Confliction
by The Lady Meow
Summary: A year after Carm learns Sly lied someone is killing off the Fox's. Not wanting Carmelita involved in this case, the chief sends her away. Now, Carm is out to save her sister, to do so she has to set aside her black and white views. Full summary inside.
1. Lies, Trickery, Pain Confliction

_**Confliction**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Sly. If someone said I did, they lied. The only ones I own are the ones you don't recognize.

AN: I know I'm still writing Mercy and Blazing Hearts but I saw no problem in starting a new fiction since I just finished Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. I'll still be updating my other fictions. The end just left such an opening for a fiction so I _had_ to write it. I've never written a Sly Cooper fiction before so I hope you all enjoy this. Also, so you know, Carmelita is my favorite character and thus this story will focus mostly on her.

Summary: Carmelita finds out the truth about Sly and never wants to see him again. Now, a year later, someone is killing off the Fox's. Not wanting Carmelita involved in this case, the chief sends her away, much to her disapproval. The last Fox, other than herself is her little sister. To save her sister, Carmelita will have to set aside her black and white views and learn to see things in a new light.

**EDIT** Re-reading through this so I might finish up my latest chapter, I spotted more than a few errors through here that I missed before. I only fixed one glaring error and one typo. The one misspelling of Desiree's name and when I said Sly would go upstairs and then he actually went downstairs. I thought of revamping the entire thing, but decided against it as I like how it shows the progress in my writing. However I couldn't let that go in all good conciousness.

**Lies, Trickery, Pain… Confliction**

It was wonderful. Carmelita never felt so happy… since she stopped trying to catch Sly she was calmer… more at peace. Granted she only felt this peace because the infamous Sly Cooper had managed to hit his head and get amnesia.

She told him he was her partner when he asked who she was. Yes, she had lied. And she felt slightly guilty about it, but it was necessary. What kind of person would she be if she threw a man in jail and he didn't know what he did wrong?

As far as she was concerned she did the right thing. Sly was a different man now. He was a good man on the right side of the law now. How could anybody argue with her decision? No one could. That was why Interpol had accepted Sly as a constable when she brought him in.

The chief was skeptical of course but in the end he relented. Inspector Fox and Constable Cooper made a formidable team. She knew it; he knew it… hell, all of Interpol knew it. Sly still had many of his old quirks, his flirtatiousness for one example; though she didn't mind so much anymore… so long as that flirtatiousness stayed directed at her.

Without Sly being a master thief, Carmelita was able to accept his advances. Sometimes, she was surprised at how much he could act like his old self and still not remember who he was. She shook her head.

It had only been a year since it all started. And now here she was with a beautiful diamond ring on her finger. In a matter of months she would be Carmelita Montoya Cooper. Life was wonderful.

The only thing that had Carmelita worried was the day Sly's memory would return and her blissful life would end… she hoped with all her being that day would never come.

The door to her office opened and the object of her thoughts walked through. He grinned at her, "How's everything going, beautiful?"

Carmelita rolled her eyes and smiled, "Nothing. It's kind of boring, actually." She sighed. As peaceful and blissful as her life was… she couldn't deny that fact. Ever since Sly lost his memory… it had been quiet… too quiet almost. She'd never admit it aloud but that was the good thing about chasing a master thief. It was never boring.

But _that_ was the _only_ thing she would miss… the adventure; the excitement.

Sly nodded his head. "Yeah." He agreed with her.

----

The phone rang and the handsome Doberman Pincher picked up the phone. "Hello?" his somewhat raspy voice answered.

"Doberman." The voice replied.

Detective Wes Doberman straightened out immediately. The black dog held the phone tighter in his as he recognized the voice. "Yes, Ma'am."

"I have some information you might be interested in."

"Yes?"

"It concerns _Constable_ Cooper."

For a moment the detective lost his ability to speak. It was no secret that he held no fondness for the thief turn cop Sly Cooper. In fact, it was common knowledge the two felt little more than hatred for one another. He cleared his throat before replying, "What about Sly?"

"It seems as though our little thief is also a little liar. He knows very well who he is and he's using that ignorant Fox to stay out of prison."

"Inspector Fox is the farthest thing from ignorant I assure you. She-"

"If I wanted your opinion I would have asked, you ingrate!" the voice interrupted angrily.

"I-I'm sorry, Ma'am."

"You should be. Now listen, I want that raccoon arrested."

"I have no problem with that… but you never cared about criminals before…"

"And I don't care now. Cooper is a liability to me. He's in my way, I want him out."

Wes furrowed his brows, "How? He doesn't know who you are."

"He doesn't need to know me. And you don't need to know anything else! You work for me or did you forget all I've done for you?"

"No, Ma'am. I didn't forget… but how can I arrest Cooper? He has the whole of Interpol fooled."

"We'll just have to make him slip up then won't we? I'll set up a temptation for him. With his past, he won't be able to resist this."

"What are you going to do?"

"Leave that to me and don't think of it. Just be ready to bust him."

The line went dead before he could reply. He hung the phone up. Cooper was a fake? He _knew _it. And now… now he could prove it.

----

It had only been a year since Sly chose his path and while he loved Carmelita with all of his heart… he still missed his old life… his old gang. They had a good thing going there and it was all changed the moment he made his abrupt decision.

Not that he regretted it… not totally, at least. He did it so he could be with Carmelita. But… he had been a thief all his life. It was a big part of who he was for a long time…

He shook his head. No. He didn't regret it in the least. He loved Carmelita and this was the only way he could have her. It was a sacrifice, yes, but it was well worth it. Soon enough, Carmelita would be his wife, but she didn't know his secret. She didn't know that he faked his amnesia. No, and she could never know.

She wouldn't understand. Sly knew that. If she were to find out what Sly did, she would only think about the fact that he lied to her and not about why he did it. Carmelita, he loved her more than anything, but she was strictly black and white about things. That was just how she was. And that was why Sly had to continue to lie to her.

----

"It's beautiful…" the female mouse said in awe as she stared at the flawless gem. It was an emerald with a solid gold chain; very expensive. This gem was called the Bachiatari Ishi, which translated into Cursed Stone; the emerald had been bought by a rich entrepreneur who went by the name of Lady Desiree despite the Japanese legend of it bringing bad luck to anyone who possesses it.

Bentley looked from his computer to his wife and partner in crime, Penelope, and smiled at her. The turtle nodded his head, "Yeah, it is."

Things had gotten rough for Bentley and Penelope lately. Money became tight and things weren't going as well as they had in the beginning of their partnership. But the Bachiatari Ishi, despite its name and history, would change that… for the time being, at least.

The lovers made a great team, that was true, but, unfortunately, brains couldn't do everything. Together they pulled off great heists with Bentley's hacking and Penelope's RC skills, but soon heists became more and more difficult. It was obvious that they needed Murray's strength and Sly's stealth back… but… they both knew the chances of getting them back were near nonexistent, well, for Sly at least.

Still, Penelope and Bentley were all that was left of Cooper gang. They hardly felt bad about stealing the Bachiatari Ishi from Lady Desiree. Lady Desiree wasn't the law abiding citizen one normally expected from one of her class. It was well known that she was working for some big mob boss, though no one knew who he, or she, was…

"What do we do if we bump into Sly?" Penelope asked.

"What do you mean?" Bentley asked her.

"He's part of Interpol and Lady Desiree is a target for them. It's obvious that Sly will be there."

Bentley blinked, he hadn't thought about that. "I don't know, Penelope… I don't think Sly would try to arrest us, but…"

"Carmelita will be there, too." She finished for him.

----

"She's known as Lady Desiree. She's a very powerful woman and she's the only person, we know of, who knows the identity of the leader of the Poison Rogues." Wes informed Carmelita and Sly as they sat in his office. "As you know, the Poison Rogues are one of the most dangerous gangs known. We suspect Lady Desiree of being a member of the Poison Rogues, but that hasn't been proven yet. Still, there is evidence of her having contact with them. The chief wants us to go in and take her into custody."

Carmelita nodded her head, "No problem."

"When do we leave?" Sly asked.

"We have the location of where she resides and the warrant for her arrest now." Wes told him.

Carmelita didn't waste another second before she stood up and grabbed her shock pistol off her desk and put it in her holster. Sly followed her lead and Wes led the two out of the office.

Wes sighed as he got into his car; Sly and Carmelita's car right behind him. It was true that he hated Sly, but he had no problem with Carmelita. In fact, he admired her dearly. She was so strong and dedicated to her work… beautiful… he didn't want to hurt her.

Yet, it was what he was about to do.

His boss made him what he was. He was nothing and she built him into the man he was, and she would have no qualms about tearing him down. He knew this and that was why he did what she desired.

Sly tricked Carmelita, he tricked all of Interpol, and Wes' boss had a plan to prove it. She didn't inform Wes of it, she just told him where to go; giving him the location of, the wanted, Lady Desiree… Wes was confused as to why she wanted Sly gone so badly, she never told him more than what she felt he needed to know. He couldn't understand why she wanted Interpol to find the woman who could cause so many problems for the Poison Rogues with a single sentence. And he didn't understand how anything to do with the third member of the Poison Rogues could prove Sly's lie.

But, it wasn't his place to understand. It was only his place to do as he was told.

----

"No one's here." Carmelita stated as the three walked into the, very large, mansion.

"Guess she knew we were coming." Sly said.

Wes shook his head, "The door was unlocked. She might be here, we should probably separate."

Carmelita and Sly agreed, nodding their heads.

"I'll take the upstairs, Carmelita, you take this floor and Sly, take the downstairs." Wes told them.

----

Sly searched the downstairs. It wasn't a basement or a cellar; it was almost as if it were a gigantic vault. Man, did that take him back… suddenly; he heard voices speaking in hushed tones.

"It's fried… is there another way in?" Said a female voice that Sly recognized, though he couldn't recall who, exactly, it belonged to. He followed the hushed voice.

"I'm afraid not. Without your RC chopper there's no way we can get over that water." Said a voice that Sly could never forget… Bentley, which meant that the other voice had to have belonged to Penelope.

"What about your chair?"

"I can't fly all the way over there even with the gadgets on my chair."

He walked closer to the voices and he saw them. "Bentley." He said and smiled when his best friend turned around.

"Sly!" the turtle exclaimed smiling.

"Well, I definitely wasn't expecting _this_." Sly laughed.

"I'm afraid we were." Penelope spoke up.

"Nice to see you again too, Penelope." Sly said with a lopsided smirk.

Penelope shook her head, "I'm sorry, Sly; forgive me if I'm wary. It is nice to see you again."

"You don't have to worry about Carm; she's looking around upstairs for Desiree." He told her. "What're you guys up to, anyway?"

Penelope and Bentley didn't seem like they wanted to tell him, but it didn't take Bentley long to relent. "We're here for the Bachiatari Ishi."

Sly blinked. "Come again?"

"The Bachiatari Ishi." Bentley repeated.

"It's a very expensive emerald from Japan." Penelope told him.

Sly nodded his head and looked behind them. In the middle of a large pool, that covered an entire section from corner to corner, was a display case that held the Bachiatari Ishi. The only thing going through Sly's mind was why Desiree had a giant pool in her downstairs… what was wrong with just putting the thing in a safe?

He shook his head, there seemed to be no way over to the gem except by swimming through it. "What's wrong with the water?" he asked.

"There are microscopic nanobots in the water, anything that goes in gets an electric shock that can go through any object and kill whoever tries to get to the Bachiatari Ishi." Bentley answered.

"A little extreme for some gem, don't you think?" Sly muttered as he scanned for any kind of way over the water. He found one. Along the wall was a small ledge, not large enough for a typical person but perfect for Sly to sneak on.

"Why don't I help you guys out?"

"Wouldn't that put you in an awkward situation?" Penelope asked him.

Sly shook his head, "No way, Carm and Wes are busy searching for Desiree, there's nothing to worry about."

Bentley smiled at him, "Thanks, Sly, it'll be almost like old times."

"Yeah, almost." Sly nodded before he snuck on the very small ledge and tip-toed around to where he was right across from the case and jumped on it.

----

Wes was searching the upstairs as he said he would, his boss told him to go to Lady Desiree's place, but there was no Lady Desiree. At least that solved the confusion of why he was sent there… well, mostly. True, his boss had thought about the problems that could occur if they had arrested the woman and had fixed that bit. But how was any of this going to prove Sly's deception?

A ringing of a phone interrupted his thoughts.

----

Carmelita sighed in aggravation. There was no sign of Lady Desiree and the lack of noise from either downstairs or upstairs told her that is was highly unlikely she was in the mansion.

"Carmelita," she heard Wes' voice and turned around. His look told her that he hadn't found Desiree either. "We should go downstairs to help Sly."

Carmelita nodded her head and followed him down the steps. The two began searching for Sly.

What she saw next caused her to stop dead in her tracks.

It was that turtle, Bentley, who Sly had once worked with. Next to him was a lady mouse… Penelope… that was her name. But they weren't the reason Carmelita was shocked into a pseudo coma… no…

Sly had flipped over to them, holding an emerald necklace that, from what she could see, he had stolen. He turned around to see Carmelita's shocked eyes.

"Carm," he started, but she cut him off.

"Don't even." She said shortly. "When did you get your memory back?"

"He always had it." Wes spoke up.

Sly shot him a glare, "Shut up, you-"

"No, _you_, Sly, you shut up. Wes?" Carmelita looked at him. He had the answers and at the moment she couldn't look at Sly's face.

"Sly lied about his amnesia, he tricked you… he tricked all of Interpol. I've suspected it since the beginning, but I couldn't prove it."

Carmelita closed her eyes in anguish.

"Carm," Sly stepped towards her.

"Don't come near me." She said steadily, "You lied to me?"

"It wasn't like that…"

"Then, tell me, what was it like?"

"I wanted to be with you."

"So you tricked me. Sly, you don't get it, you _lied_. Our entire relationship was built on one giant lie!"

Sly's eyes flashed in anger, "I wasn't the only one who lied, Carm! You tried to trick me into thinking I was your partner!"

"I only did that so you wouldn't have to go to prison!"

"And that makes what you did better?"

"Yes! It does! I thought you lost your memory, that made you an innocent man and I couldn't send a man to prison if he didn't even know what he had done wrong! I tried to save you! And you just… you…" She took a deep breathe. "And you lied to me. Just to save your own ass!"

"That's not true! You know it's not true! I just wanted to _be _with you! I gave up my friends, my _legacy_, for you!"

"I see what a sacrifice you made." She said, laughing bitterly. "I get it now. Get in nice with the inspector and steal all you want while she's blinded by love. You took _advantage_ of me."

"This is why I never told you the truth. I _knew_ you wouldn't get it. You're too black and white! I knew you'd twist it!" Sly yelled, frustrated.

"No… you're the one who doesn't get it…" she said, barely above a whisper.

"So, what now? Are you gonna arrest me? Are you gonna slap on the cuffs and haul me off to jail?" he asked, incredulously.

She shook her head and looked at her hand. She pulled off her glove to reveal the diamond ring Sly proposed with. She took it off, her face void of all emotion, and tossed it to him. He caught it easily and stared at her with heartbroken eyes. She didn't care, it was his fault. "No," she said calmly and emotionless, "I never want to see your face again, Sly Cooper."

--

Sly felt his heart break. He lost her. She was reacting in a way he never thought. He wanted her to glare at him, to shoot him with her shock pistol, to arrest him, anything but look at him with that stoic expression.

"We should go, Sly." Bentley said.

--

Wes stared at the two. Wes should have arrested him, but he didn't want to leave Carmelita like this, as he knew that Sly would run and he would have to chase him. Carmelita wasn't acting like herself…

"Leave, Cooper, leave now." He looked at the raccoon. Sly looked back at him, confusion etched in his features. "Go, Cooper, but know that I will find you and I will bring you in. For now, though, just go… for Carmelita's sake."

--

Carmelita watched as the three thieves left. She cursed herself for her stupidity and for being so gullible. He tricked her. He took advantage of her. He lied to her.

Now, he was gone. And she wasn't going to chase him anymore. She wasn't lying. She never wanted to see his deceitful face ever again…

**Well, I hope you all like this. Remember, it's my first Sly Cooper fic. I just thought that it was a bad idea for Sly to lie like that… anyway, please review, it'd be much appreciated.**


	2. A Fox’s Nightmare

_**Confliction**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Sly. If someone said I did, they lied. The only ones I own are the ones you don't recognize.

**A Fox's Nightmare**

Carmelita yawned as she poured her coffee. A year had passed since she found out the truth of Sly Cooper and, as a result, things had changed. No longer did pictures of a once happy couple adorn her home. No longer did a beautiful gold and diamond ring adorn her hand. No longer did she have an extra toothbrush in the bathroom just in case her fiancée slept over. And no longer was Carmelita Montoya Fox an excited soon-to-be bride… she decided she'd never get married after that. She'd remain a Fox forever and she was fine with that. She didn't need some lying jerk…

But after that incident, their relationship didn't go back to the cops and robbers game they once lived. No… the Inspector no longer chased after the master thief. That was the detective's job now. Wes was the one in all the papers about how Sly keeps eluding him. Carmelita willed herself not to think about that criminal.

She rubbed her left temple as she sat down at the kitchen table. She picked up her newspaper and took a sip of her coffee. Her eyes widened as she read the headline… _Retired Chief Emanuel Fox, Found Dead_.

The coffee cup fell out of the motionless hand to the floor and shattered; the hot liquid spilling out like splattered blood.

----

Wes growled low as he entered Interpol. He had spent all night chasing after that damn thief only to have him slip away while his hippo friend pummeled Wes. He winced as he rolled his shoulder. _'Damn Cooper…'_

Murray had joined back up with the Cooper Gang a few months after Sly went back to stealing. He didn't know all the details but he knew that. The Cooper Gang was back and it was a pain in Wes' ass… shoulders… head. You name it and he felt pain in it.

Wes thought back to Cooper… the man seemed more _dedicated_ to stealing than when Carmelita was after him and he seemed colder than Wes ever saw him, even before he faked amnesia. He shook his head, deciding not to think about him anymore. He gave him a headache.

His head snapped up when he heard Carmelita yelling about something. He walked over to the chief's office and stood by the door to hear what was going on.

----

"Why not? I'm better than have the men on this force! I _deserve _to be on this case!" Carmelita yelled.

The chief rubbed his temples, trying not to lose his temper. "Carmelita, you have to understand-"

"He was my _father_!" she yelled.

"Exactly! This is too personal to you, Inspector. That's why you can't be allowed on this case." He explained.

She fell into the chair, "He was my father…" she repeated in a broken whisper. She looked back up to the chief, "_Please_, let me on the case. He was my father."

"I'm sorry, Inspector, but I can't allow you to be involved." He said, sympathetically.

She narrowed her eyes and walked out of his office; storming passed the detective and into her own office. She let her head droop into her hands as she sat at her desk. The door to her office was knocked on. "Who is it?"

"It's Wes."

"What do you want?"

"To talk to you… preferably not through your door with eavesdroppers all around."

"Come in."

He opened the door and walked inside. "I'm sorry about your father."

"Isn't everyone?" she remarked, dryly.

"Don't you think you should go home?"

"And do what? Sit down, thinking about how I can't catch the lowlife who killed my father?" she snapped at him.

"I just think you might feel better if you got away from here."

Carmelita closed her eyes and dropped her head back into her hands. Maybe she should leave. The chief would understand. And she could go see her family.

----

A sniper killed her father. That much the cops knew. Her father was apparently getting into his car when someone from the top of a building had shot him through the back of his head... Carmelita blinked back tears that threatened to fall. She walked up to the house she grew up in and knocked on the wooden door. A woman fox with short, curly, blue hair answered, "Carmelita?" The green eyed fox asked.

"Hi, Mama, may I come in?"

Her mother nodded and let Carmelita in the house. Carmelita looked at the portrait that hung above the old fireplace. That portrait was taken years ago, when Carmelita was fifteen.

Tatiana, her mother, then with longer hair, and Emanuel Fox sat together in large armchairs, her father with his straight black hair and brown eyes. Their three children were around them… Orlando Fox, two years older than Carmelita and seventeen at the time, stood beside Tatiana, with his straight blue hair and brown eyes. Carmelita, her shoulder length hair let down, stood beside Emanuel. And crouched on the floor in between Tatiana and Emanuel was, the thirteen year old, Lacienica Fox, her wavy blue hair in a ponytail and big brown eyes, her face looked like Tatiana's… solid reddish brown fur. Unlike Emanuel, Orlando, and Carmelita who had light tan fur around their faces.

She hadn't seen her family in so long. Orlando, now twenty-three, was a cop like Carmelita. Lacienica was nineteen now and she was in college, Carmelita anticipated her joining Interpol like all the other Fox's before her. She missed them and this was not her ideal way of visiting home.

"How are you feeling, Mama?" Carmelita asked.

"As well as I can," sighed Tatiana.

"Do you have any idea who could have done this?"

Tatiana closed her eyes, "I'm sorry… you're father was wonder at what he did so he made many enemies. Many are dangerous; it could have been any one of them."

Carmelita nodded as she thought about all the enemies _she_ collected over the years. "Such is the life of the law."

Tatiana smiled, "Your father always said that."

Carmelita smiled for a moment before she let it drop, "I _will_ find out who did it, Mama."

"I know you will, Carmelita. You have so much of your father in you."

----

Carmelita rubbed her eyes, trying to keep them from drooping shut. She was tired but she couldn't let herself sleep… not yet. She took another gulp of her coffee as she stared at the computer. She had been looking up several articles on her father.

She looked up all of the criminals who her father locked up. Three of them were well known snipers, Jacques Lefeau, Johnny Badger and Don Hugo. She groaned in aggravation. Lefeau was killed in prison; Badger had committed suicide shortly after getting put away…

She looked for Don Hugo. There wasn't much written on him after her father locked him up. She found a file on him; Hugo was released five years after his arrest.

"Well, Donny, looks like you're my first suspect." Carmelita smirked.

----

"Yes, I know who you're talking about." Said the large grizzly bear.

"He once worked for you, didn't he, Mr. Grizz?" Carmelita asked.

"At one time," answered his gruff voice, "but I served my time, cop."

Carmelita shook her head, "I know that… but do you know anything about where he could be now?"

Mr. Grizz let out a loud, raspy laugh, "Yeah, six feet under with a tombstone over his head."

"What?"

"You heard me. Hugo was a good sniper, well worth the money, but a few months ago he tried to screw over the wrong lady."

"Who was she?"

"Eh, a Lady something or other."

"Lady Desiree?"

"Yeah, that's her name. But you didn't hear that from me, I'm not getting involved with anything that's got to do with her or those Poison Rogues."

Carmelita nodded, "You have nothing to worry about; we'll keep this conversation between us."

With that, she left the bear and got into her car. So Hugo was dead too. That was just lovely. And after a whole year, Lady Desiree's name popped back up. It could have been coincidental… and it might not have.

----

Beep. Beep. Beep.

God, she hated that sound.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

It was possibly the most annoying sound in the world to wake up to.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Carmelita picked up the damn alarm clock and threw it against her wall. She growled as she got out of bed. It had been two weeks since she found out about Desiree's connection to Hugo and she had found nothing since. She didn't have all the tools she usually did because she wasn't on the case and that was beginning to prove to be a problem.

She sighed and walked over to her broken clock. "Damn it." The phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Inspector Fox?" It was the chief.

"What's wrong?" The chief never called anyone unless it was something bad.

"… It's about your mother… Tatiana Fox…"

**Well, I'm stopping this right here. There's actually more to this chapter so I'll post the second half tomorrow or the day after or so. Anyway, I hope you like it. Please review.**


	3. A Fox's Nightmare Part II

_**Confliction**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Sly. If someone said I did, they lied. The only ones I own are the ones you don't recognize.

**A Fox's Nightmare (Part II)**

"Inspector Fox?"

Her mother was dead.

"Inspector Fox, are you there?"

Found in her house, her throat slashed.

"Inspector Fox!"

Her parents were dead.

"Carmelita!"

And she wasn't allowed to do anything.

"Carmelita, answer me!" the voice on the other end of the line ordered.

She mechanically dropped the phone on the receiver; her eyes, wide and unblinking. She couldn't believe it. First her dad and now her mom… it was disgusting. Who would do this? She didn't know, but she'd be damned if she wouldn't find out.

----

"How can you say that, Orlando?" Carmelita asked him, astonished, as she sat at his kitchen table. She had come to him to talk about their parents. He was happy to talk about them, but when Carmelita started complaining of how the chief wouldn't let her help… he actually _agreed_ with him.

"Easily, Carm. You need to stay out of it. Neither of us can be involved, it's too personal to us. It's protocol and you know that, I don't understand why you're trying to go against orders." He told her, calmly.

"I can't believe you." She closed her eyes in aggravation. "They're our parents."

"And it's against orders."

She stared at him, she couldn't believe her brother. He was more "by the book" than she was.

"Carm, look, I'm sorry. I know you're hurting, so am I, but we aren't allowed to do anything. There are more police on the force, let them handle this." He told her in a serious tone. "Don't risk your career, the Fox legacy, on something like this."

"Something like this… this is our family…" she said.

"I know, Carmelita, I know that." He said as he poured tea into her cup. "Just leave it be."

"Have you spoken to Lacienica?" Carmelita asked, choosing to change the subject as she slumped in defeat.

Orlando shook his head, "I can't get a hold of her."

Carmelita's brows furrowed, "What about the police."

"No one can find her."

"She's missing?"

Orlando shrugged, "It's nothing to worry about. This is Lacienica we're talking about. That chica is always disappearing and reappearing. You know that."

"But under current circumstances, I think we _should_ worry!"

"Carmelita, don't freak out. Lacienica doesn't even live in Paris; she's all the way in Toulon."

She ran her hand through her hair, "I don't see how you can be so calm. Don't you see a pattern? First our father, now our mother?"

"They were killed in completely different ways, Carm. There's no connection other than the fact they were married. Dad had enemies and someone was probably robbing the house and Mom got in the way. The knife came from her kitchen, it wasn't premeditated, there's no conspiracy so get that thought out of your head."

"I never said anything about a conspiracy."

"Carmelita Montoya, I am your big brother, I _know_ you and I _know_ what you're thinking. It's _not_, okay? So drop it."

"How can you just sit there and let this happen?"

"I'm not _letting_ anything happen! I'm just doing as I'm ordered, like you should! We aren't the only cops in Interpol who have had someone in their family murdered. Those cops know they can't get involved, just like _I_ know that _we_ can't and just like you _should_ know."

"I know… I know… it's just hard." Carmelita confessed, tears stinging her eyes.

"It _is_ hard; it's not going to be easy. We just have to get on with it like professionals."

She sighed.

"Isn't your chief giving you some time off?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

Carmelita nodded her head, "Yes, but I can't. I need _something _to do; I can't just stay home and plan funeral arrangements…"

Orlando nodded, "I know how you feel. I'm not taking time off either. Hey, why don't we go do something?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know, something to take your mind off things… why don't we go out for lunch?"

Carmelita smiled a small smile, "Okay."

----

Orlando stopped the car.

"What's wrong?" Carmelita asked.

He pointed at the large, abandoned, old building he parked across the street from. "Do you that up in the window?"

Carmelita looked up; there was a shadow moving, a person's shadow in there. "No one's supposed to be in there." She said, looking at the sign, 'Trespassers will be Prosecuted'.

Orlando sighed, "You stay here, Carm. It's probably just some kid, I'll be back."

Carmelita nodded as her big brother walked inside the building. She sighed, why were kids so stupid? A sign says not to go in and they go in anyway… that was just plain idiocy. Parents should have taught their children better, it could be dangerous for kids going into abandoned buildings.

She shook her head and turned on the radio, almost as soon as she turned it on, there was a loud explosion. She turned to see the building that her brother had just entered, burst into flames.

----

"I'm sorry, Ms. Fox." The doctor told her sympathetically.

"My brother… Orlando… is he really…" she couldn't get the sentence out.

The doctor nodded, "I'm afraid there was nothing we could do for your brother, Ma'am."

"Oh, my God…"

This couldn't be happening. She sat down in the waiting chair. No. No, it couldn't. It was just a horrible nightmare that she would wake up from in no time. It wasn't real. There was no way this could be real. No.

No…

"Inspector?"

Carmelita looked up to see the chief looking down at her. "I need you to come with me."

----

"You can't do that!" Carmelita shouted outraged.

The chief sighed, "I'm sorry, I truly am, but it's obvious that someone is after you."

Carmelita shook her head, "You're out of your mind! I'm not leaving!"

"Carmelita, first your father was gunned down, then someone cut your mother's throat and now your brother was caught in an explosion. The pattern is clear, someone is out to kill off your family. You cannot remain in Paris. You will be sent to another branch of Interpol."

"Where?"

"… America."

"America?"

"Yes. New York, to be precise."

"You can't do that."

"Yes, I can, it's for your own safety and for the safety of this case. Don't think I haven't noticed all your interference."

"Please, no." she pleaded with him, but there was no way around it.

"Your papers have already been sent. The work is done; you'll be on the plane tomorrow morning."

"What about Lacienica?"

"I have the finest detectives, including Doberman, searching for your little sister. Don't worry, go home and pack. That's an order."

**And I'll end this here. I hope you all like it, I did. Anyway in the next chapter, Carm will be in New York City! (I'm not sure if Interpol really does branch out to America, but it's my story and that's what works.) Will she be able to handle her brand new partner? Where is Lacienica? Also, we'll be checking in on the Cooper Gang, to see how Sly's doing. That's all for now. Please review!**


	4. Blue

_**Confliction**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Sly. If someone said I did, they lied. The only ones I own are the ones you don't recognize.

**Blue**

Short legs ran for all they were worth, though he knew that it was hopeless. His feet splashed the puddles left from that morning's rain. The bottoms of his blue jeans were getting muddy, his shoes were soaked. He could hear her catching up to him. _'Why me?'_ he wondered miserably as he pumped his legs faster. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up.

He ran faster and faster, he could hear her voice yelling at him; warning him to stop. He knew he should have listened; having gone through this many a time before. A voice in the back of his head told him to stop before it was too late, but his legs didn't listen.

Suddenly, a shooting pain shot through his legs as something hit the back of his knees hard. He fell to the wet ground in defeat. He looked up angrily at the white, Persian, feline who currently stood above him, looking down. "Damn it, Blue! Why you always gotta hurt me?" he asked.

The female officer smirked at him and kneeled down so she could look him in the eyes. Black met gold. "'Cause, you worthless weasel, you're always makin' me." She answered with her smooth Brooklyn accent before she slammed her fist into his nose.

Roxy Blue was an Interpol officer. Her pink hair was always up in a ponytail, a blue stripe adorned both of her cheeks and her eyes sparkled almost as gold as the three golden earrings she wore in each ear. She wore black work-out shorts with a blue stripe on the sides of both legs, a belt with the Interpol symbol on the buckle, pink and black tennis shoes with blue socks, a light blue wrap around halter and light blue gloves with black straps at the top that buckled them right under her shoulders.

Pretty as she was, she was violent and loved to beat up on people. And Johnny P. Weasel was her favorite target.

The brown weasel held his nose in pain; he looked at his hand to check for blood. Thankfully, she didn't hit him that hard. "Johnny, Johnny, Johnny." Roxy shook her head. "Ya always gotta make things hard, don't ya?" she stood up and took his arm, pulling him up as well.

Being a good foot shorter than the officer, he looked up to see her face. "Look, ya need to find another weasel, 'cause I ain't doin' it no more." He told her defiantly.

She patted his back, "Aw,_ Johnny_, ya don't mean that." She smiled at him with a sick smile.

He shook his head, "No way, I ain't stickin' my neck out every time there's some drug ring."

"So ya _do_ know about the drug ring?" she asked him.

"I ain't tellin' you nothin', Blue." He said with his arms crossed and a stern look on his face; trying to intimidate the cat.

Roxy smirked and bent down to pick up the thing she threw at him. It was trashcan lid. Johnny looked down at it and back up to her. Before he had a chance to react she slammed the lid into the side of his face. The force pushed him back to the ground. She kneeled over him, her eyes flashing in anger, "Ya better tell me 'cause I'm a lot more dangerous than some of those thugs you're tryin' to protect."

"All right, all right…" he lowered his eyes in defeat.

----

"What do you mean she's not there anymore?" asked the voice angrily on the other line of the phone.

Wes sighed, "I told you, the chief sent her off to America somewhere, only he knows the exact place. It's nowhere on file…"

He was met with silence. Silence never meant anything good when it came to his boss, so he attempted to console her, "But she's out of your way now, she can't do anything to you if that's what you're worried about…"

"I want her dead." She snapped.

Wes flinched at both her words and her tone of voice. "That's why she was sent away." he said, not knowing what exactly to say.

"What about her sister?" she asked suddenly.

The question caught him off guard for a minute. He shook his head, he didn't know that she knew about Carmelita's younger sister… but then again, she knew about Orlando, Tatiana and Emanuel, so why wouldn't she know about the youngest Fox? "Lacienica is still missing, no one can find her."

He heard her laugh; he could imagine her evil grin. "Then Carmelita will be back, sooner or later. Keep an eye out for her." With that, she hung up.

Wes set the phone down. What did she have against the Fox's; against Carmelita? None of them had ever arrested her, he doubted they even knew of her… but, when he thought about it… how much did he really know about the young woman he worked for? He only knew what she allowed him to. And that wasn't much to go on. Why did she hate the Fox family so?

How he hoped that she was wrong. _'Stay where you are, Carmelita. Please stay where you are for your own safety...'_

----

"Oh, wow…" said Penelope as she read the paper. "Could the Youngest Fox Already Be Dead?" the headline read. Since the beginning of the Fox Massacre, or so the presses had dubbed the murders, Sly had everyone looking up as much as they could about it. She looked over at Sly hunched over Bentley and the computer. With each death, Sly got more and more anxious.

She sighed in pity for him. The woman he loved was in great danger and he could do nothing but be a normal bystander. It had been less than a week since they found out that Carmelita had been transferred to another branch of Interpol. The only thing that the chief would let out was that she was in America. Bentley was still trying to locate her file, but it was proving more difficult than any of them had expected. There were just so many branches, even in America alone.

She set the paper down. Personally, Penelope was almost certain that this Lacienica Fox was dead and probably had been for quite some time. If she was still alive, she would have come as soon as she heard of her father's death or at least her mother's… even if that wasn't true, they would have had at least a small clue where she was. And the killer, or killers, wouldn't have bothered with a kidnapping when they murdered the others in such a cold manner. No, they were out for blood.

"They could have kidnapped Lacienica to lure Carmelita to them." Bentley said, as if reading her mind.

She jumped a bit. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed when Bentley gave Sly the computer and moved over to her, picking up her discarded paper.

She shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe… but we don't know any more than they do apparently."

--

Sly turned off the computer in anger. He looked at Bentley, who was talking to Penelope about Carmelita's little sister. He shook his head. He had only met the girl once, but he liked her. He liked all of Carmelita's family. It was hard to believe that someone was trying to kill them all off and succeeding so far. Who was doing it though? It was hard to figure out as Carmelita had enough enemies of her own, add them to her brother's and her father's… it was near impossible to figure out just by motives.

He turned his attention to Murray, who was currently overcome with newspapers. He walked over to him, the big guy may not have been the smartest of the gang, but he had heart and gave himself fully to helping a friend out. He smiled a small smile when he thought about it.

Murray had a pretty good life with his racing. He made good money and had a nice home, even a little fame to go along with it. He left it all to come back to the gang. Sly and Bentley stopped by and told him they were trying to form the gang back and Murray had jumped on the spot. He'd do anything for his friends. How could he have left such friends like him and Bentley?

"Thanks a lot, Murray." Sly told him.

Murray looked up from the many papers about the Fox Massacre and smiled at Sly. "Gee, it's no problem. I like the Inspector; I don't want anything to happen to her either."

Sly nodded before going up to his room. Honestly, he didn't know how any of this was going to help. The only information they had to go on was that of the press. He sighed, Bentley hacked into the Interpol data base, but if the chief didn't want certain people knowing where she was, he was smart not to put the information in.

He doubted he'd ever see her again. Not that he had been seeing her much as it was with Doberman on his tail all the time. He clenched his teeth when he thought about that dog. It just reminded him that the reason he wasn't with Carmelita, the reason he wasn't there consoling her and being there with her was because of that detective.

No… he'd never see Carmelita again for sure now. Wherever she was hidden, she was hidden well. And he hoped, for her sake, that she stayed hidden from the psycho who was after her… because he couldn't protect her anymore.

----

"I don't see the problem. I busted them didn't I?" Roxy asked, completely clueless as to why the chief was on her back.

The short parrot groaned anger, "Don't see the problem? Blue, you caused thousands of dollars worth of damage, you _didn't _call for backup and two of the suspects are actually suing _us_ for police brutality!"

"Chill out, Frankie, you know they ain't gonna pull that. The court's not stupid, _'sides_, I was the only cop there." She told him with a smile.

Chief Byrd visibly shook in anger, "Blue, you cause more problems than the cons do! And I'm Chief to you!"

Roxy rolled her eyes. She knew he was all talk, he couldn't do anything to her and he wasn't about to fire his best officer over petty details.

"I'm giving you a partner, Blue." He told her.

Roxy's eyes widened, "What? I don't need a babysitter!"

Byrd shook his head, "She'll be your partner, Blue, not a babysitter. She's an Inspector formally stationed at the branch of Interpol in Paris, she's been transferred here, and you're going to be her partner." he informed her as he led her to his office. He opened the door and sitting in the chair was a very pretty fox looking almost angrier than Roxy herself.

"Roxy Blue, meet Carmelita Fox. Inspector Fox this is your new partner." Byrd said with a grin.

Roxy looked at the angry Inspector. _'This ought to be interesting.'_

**This is where I end it. Sorry for the long wait but you know how it is. **

**Anyway, a friend of mine drew a picture for Confliction, it's not a scene I wrote but it's practically the aftermath of the first chapter. http/ www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 31003179/ This is the link if you're interested. **

**Also she drew Roxy, and some of my other characters. If you want to look at them here's that link, http/ www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 31003328/ **

**Please review!**


	5. New Shades

_**Confliction**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Sly. If someone said I did, they lied. The only ones I own are the ones you don't recognize.

AN: Sorry for the long wait, but here's the new chapter.

**New Shades**

"This goes beyond immorality!" Carmelita accused her partner. Roxy Blue and Carmelita Fox had been partners for a little over two months. They shared and apartment together and while the two hotheads got along fairly well and made an excellent team, the two disagreed on quite a few things.

Roxy's ethics was one example and the current cause of the vixen's anguish. They had just brought down the notorious drug lord, Tony Coyote, and shipped him off to prison. All in all, it was a good day, the good guys won and no one was really hurt… the only problem being Roxy's sticky fingers.

After they had turned Tony in, Byrd had sent a group of police with Roxy and Carmelita to retrieve the money. Carmelita had never seen so much money in her life, the safe they had opened was filled with hundred dollar bills. Even _she_ was tempted to take a few hundred… but that was wrong and she wouldn't do it. Sadly, Roxy did not have the same dilemma.

When Carmelita and Roxy came home, Carmelita found out that Roxy had nicked more than a couple thousand dollars. "I don't see the problem. All that cash is gonna do is sit away in evidence. They'll never miss this little bit."

"It's still wrong, Roxy. You _stole_ that!" she protested. Though both cops knew Carmelita wouldn't turn her in. Roxy was the only friend she had made since arriving in this city and while normally the inspector was fine being alone, Roxy kept Carmelita's mind off Lacienica a little. Not enough to stop her from worrying about her little sister, but enough to keep her sanity.

"Yeah, from a _drug boss_, they have more than enough evidence to put him away. A few thousand dollars will do a lot more for us than what it'll be doing in evidence," the feline defended.

"It's still a crime." Carmelita stated clearly.

Roxy rolled her eyes, "Ya need some new shades, Carm. The world's not in black and white and thinkin' that way's gonna get ya no where."

Carmelita sighed and turned on her laptop. "Just like Sly," she muttered.

"Sly Cooper?" Roxy asked.

Carmelita nodded, not at all surprised that her partner knew who he was. Even in America, police knew of the master thief. The civilians didn't know much, if anything, about him, but if you were a part of Interpol, you knew all about Sly Cooper.

"Why'd you let him go?" she asked.

Carmelita shrugged, "I was tired of going after him. It was time he became a thorn in someone else's side."

"Or heart?" Roxy commented.

Carmelita looked at her. "He used me. He used me to keep himself out of jail. He insulted my intelligence and tricked me as well as all of Interpol. He knows how Interpol works inside out and uses that to his advantage in crime."

"He seems to be doing just as well as he eva did. No betta, no worse."

"It changes nothing. He's just another criminal."

Roxy shrugged, "He always seemed like a version of Robin Hood to me, except he's a raccoon, not a fox. Ya know stealing from the rich and bad guys."

Carmelita shook her head, "Robin Hood stole from the rich and the bad to give to the poor who need it more than them. Sly Cooper steals for his own selfish purposes."

"Then I guess you can't be mad at me for this."

Carmelita raised an eyebrow.

"Tony's the rich and bad and we're the poor who needs the money," she smiled.

Carmelita rolled her eyes.

"New shades, Carm." Roxy sang.

----

"Freeze, Cooper!"

"Drop dead, Doberman!"

He was sick and tired of running away from him. He didn't care about going to jail. He didn't even care about the priceless gem in his possession. All he cared about was the fact that day after day that dog was doing something to cause him problems.

He wasn't sure what made him so sensitive. Maybe it was because he hadn't seen his nor heard of his beloved. Maybe it was because it was Doberman's fault. Maybe it was just his frustration over not being able to help her. Or maybe it was just all of the above and he wanted the dog's head.

Wes pointed the gun at Sly, "Don't make me shoot you!" he warned, though it seemed as though he wouldn't mind having to."

Sly tried to smirk, but it turned into a scowl. How he hated the cop in front of him. No, he hated the very _thing_ in front of him. "Try it," he dared, but without playful antagonizing he did with Carmelita… it was almost like a growl.

Wes growled low in his throat as he stared into Sly's eyes. Both still and both silently daring the other to make a move. The detective's finger twitched on the trigger; the thief's hands clenched into fists. Each transmitted their hatred into the other's eyes.

It was Wes who ended the silent dispute, pulling the trigger of his pistol swiftly. Sly barely had the chance to leap out of the way, but managed just the same. He dodged the shot just as easily as he did when it was one of his lovely vixen's shots. He then charged towards him, using his cane to knock the shock pistol out of his hands and slammed his fist into his face.

Wes was unprepared as his gun was knocked from his grasp and the blow came to his face. The very force of the seething raccoon's punch was enough to push him to the ground. He jumped up and seized Sly, swiping his foot underneath and causing the thief to fall unceremoniously.

Without missing a beat, Sly swung his cane forcibly, connecting with the detective's head. Wes collapsed, completely unconscious. He stared intently on the fallen policeman. For the first time since Clockwork, Sly the desire to kill pulled sharply on him. Wes destroyed his life with the only woman he ever loved, _would_ ever love… wasn't that justification to end the loathsome creature's life? Wasn't it?

It would be so easy. A quick snap of the neck and he'd no longer have to deal with the ignorant dog. He was already a fugitive, what was one more crime? And he deserved it. No one would miss him. He wouldn't even feel a thing. A million more reasons ran through his head as to why he should kill the dog that lay before him.

_'But could you really do it?'_ a voice asked. Could he? The question penetrated through the back of his mind. To kill this cop, whose only crime against him was proving that he was nothing but a liar… this vulnerable man who had no means to defend himself…

"Sly!" shouted Bentley on the communicator, pulling Sly out of his internal battle with himself, "Get out of there! Wes called backup, Interpol is swarming in!"

With that, the decision was made for him… for the moment at least. He took one last look at Wes and ran.

----

_"My little sister, her name is Lacienica, she's been missing."_

Roxy sighed as she remembered Carmelita's words from weeks ago. They had been getting to know each other and the feline had finally gotten her to explain why she was transferred all the way from Paris to New York.

_"Someone is out to destroy my family. They killed my parents and my brother already. The chief sent me as far as he could so I couldn't get involved."_

She desperately wanted to save her sister, this _Lacienica_… but Carmelita, Roxy knew, was going about it the wrong way. Roxy had found herself thinking about the vixen's situation.

Her friend had one fatal flaw that would keep her from ever finding her sister. Carmelita wore blinders. All she saw was right and wrong. Everything was black and white. And the law was always right.

"_I have to find her…"_

Roxy knew that if her partner was ever to find Lacienica, she'd have to learn to look at things in a new way. Interpol did _not _want her to find the girl. They didn't want her to be involved with any of it. They aimed to keep her away. No matter how much time Carmelita spent on her laptop, looking up information on the youngest of the Fox family, she'd get no where farther than where she was.

She'd never get anything done the _legal_ way. That was why Roxy was going to help her.

Roxy walked into their living room. Carmelita was there on the couch, tapping away at her computer, probably still "disappointed" in Roxy because of the money. She'd need to get over that. She'd need to get over a lot of things… especially if they were to save her sister.

She walked over to her partner and threw something in her lap. Carmelita put the laptop down and picked up the object. It was a pair of rose-colored sunglasses.

Carmelita looked up at Roxy, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Roxy stared into her eyes evenly and intently, "You're going to need those."

Carmelita looked back at the sunglasses in her hand and shook her head. She knew what Roxy was telling her.

"If ya wanna find Lacienica, ya can't do it the way Interpol wants. Ya know this. Ya have a choice to make, find your sister before it's too late or obey the law and risk her life."

Carmelita closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath. She put on the sunglasses and looked Roxy in the eye, determination shining in her own. Roxy smiled and Carmelita accepted what she had to do.

**I have valid excuses. A play, final projects, final exams, it's pretty stressing. But now that the play is over and most my projects are finished and I'm less worried about my finals, I have more time to dedicate to my stories. Yay! Please review.**


	6. Back to France

_**Confliction**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Sly. If someone said I did, they lied. The only ones I own are the ones you don't recognize.

AN: Finally through with school, until college starts, that is. So I'll be updating more frequently. I doubt it will be day to day updates but it should get better.

**Back to France**

Worry. Frustration. Fear. Confusion. Anxiety.

The inspector of Interpol felt all these feelings and more. They were quarreling inside her belly, each trying to dominate her and none winning. She was worried about Lacienica and about her reputation. She was frustrated because she was going against everything she stood for. She feared the worst outcome, that Lacienica was already dead and she'd become a fugitive again. She was confused because she wasn't sure that what she was doing was right. She was anxious to get it done and over with.

She was expecting those emotions. But the feeling that surprised Carmelita was the one of excitement. She was actually, kind of excited about doing this. For once she'd be doing something against what she was taught all her life.

"C'mon," Roxy told her as she parked the car outside of a rundown apartment building.

Carmelita grimaced as they entered, roaches scattered around, the florescent light above flickered, the ground was sticky beneath her feet and the stench of urine and alcohol overpowered the air. "Why are we here?" she asked, holding her nose to protect it from the disgusting odor that surrounded them.

Roxy looked at her and smirked, the place didn't seem to have much of an effect on the cat. "We're gonna see an old… _boyfriend_ a mine." She stopped in front of a door, the white paint was discolored and peeling, revealing the rotted wood of the door. There was a number nine on the door, but an imprint on the door showed it was apartment nineteen. Roxy knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" asked a rough Brooklyn voice from the other side of the rotting door.

Roxy smiled, "It's me, _Sweetheart_, now open up."

The door creaked open and a weasel poked his head through, "What are ya playin' at, Blue?"

"Let us in, Johnny."

"I don't think so," he looked at Carmelita and winked. "So, this your new partner? They're getting' cuter."

"Cut the crap, Johnny and let us in before I cause you some serious unpleasantness."

"Back off, Blue. I know nothin' and nothin's goin' on. Now get lost!"

Roxy growled audibly, she grabbed the door knob, pushed and slammed it on his head. He fell to the ground in a flop, "I warned him," she said before walking in.

It was disgusting, Carmelita almost preferred being back in the hallway. There was an open box of pizza, which roaches were happily feasting upon, and dirty dishes everywhere. "Why have I never met him before?"

"I like to keep my contacts secret." Roxy said as she hauled him onto his moth-eaten chair. She looked at the weasel; drool was dripping from his open mouth. Roxy's nose wrinkled up at his bad breath. She slapped him across the face a few times until he woke up. She backslapped him again for good measure.

"Damn it, Blue!" he yelled, his yellow teeth bearing.

"Don't even try it," she warned him. She looked at Carmelita, "Have a seat, Carm."

Carmelita looked at the stained couch in distaste and looked back at Roxy, "I'd rather stand."

Roxy shrugged before turning her attention back to the weasel. "Now, Johnny, I got some questions for ya and ya better hope ya got the right answers."

"What is it now?" he whined.

"It's about my friend's sister. Lacienica Fox, ya know anything 'bout her?"

"Lacienica, man I don't know no Lacienica!"

"He wouldn't, she's in France, remember?" Carmelita spoke up.

Roxy looked thoughtful for a moment before tightening her grip on his shirt. "C'mon, Johnny, I know you got contacts all over. Know anything 'bout the Poison Rogues?"

"Yeah, I heard of 'em, but I don't know nothin' you want."

"Do ya know someone who might know? Think carefully, Johnny, I'm not in a real pleasant mood today."

Johnny looked thoughtful for a moment. He glared defiantly at the cop above him for a moment, her unwavering gaze pierce through him and he seemed to relent. "Yeah, I know a guy. Dimitri," he said.

"Dimitri?" Carmelita repeated in shock.

"Yeah, Dimitri, he used to be an artist, then he got hooked in the mob. The guy's got somethin' wrong in his head, can't talk right, but he knows almost everything. I'm tellin' ya, if ya wanna find the girl or anything 'bout the Poison Rogues, he's the man to go to. Last I heard he was somewhere in Paris."

Carmelita nodded, "I know Dimitri."

Roxy grinned, showing off her sharp teeth and patted Johnny on the head. "Good job, Johnny." She stood up. "Looks like we're goin' to Paris!"

"Thank God," Carmelita heard Johnny mutter.

----

Carmelita looked at her reflection in mourning for her once long and luxurious hair. Every airport had a picture of Carmelita and was warned not to let her on a plane, so Roxy had the idea of disguise. Carmelita agreed to it, but she hadn't expected Roxy to cut her hair. It wasn't insanely short; it was just cut to her mid-back and straightened. Carmelita drew the line when Roxy spoke of dying her hair.

"Chill, Carm, your hair will grow back, with that length _and_ those curls, we'd _never_ get a wig on your head!" Roxy said as she tucked Carmelita's hair under the black wig.

After Roxy was finished with her, Carmelita looked in the mirror. Her eyes were colored green with contacts; the green was brought out by the coal eyeliner Roxy had put around her eyes. Her eyelids were covered in dark purple eye shadow and her lips were adorned with a dark purple lipstick, a difference from her usually maroon colored lipstick. The wig was ebony and stopped just below her chin, the front of the wig longer than the back, and she was in a black, tight, strapless dress with a hole in the stomach and a slit that rose to her thighs. A pair of black stilettos and elbow length gloves pulled the look together.

"I look like a gothic hooker," Carmelita grumbled.

Roxy shook her head. "No, you don't. And ya don't hafta worry about it once we're in Paris, then you can go back to your normal Carm look."

Carmelita looked at Roxy. At least she wasn't the only one who had a change. And looking at Roxy, Carmelita figured she had it easy. There was no way to hide the blue markings on Roxy's face; Roxy had to put on a mask. The mask was a good one, it looked completely real, but Carmelita doubted it was very comfortable on a day like this. It was the same color as Roxy's fur. Roxy was wearing a blonde wig, the long hair pulled into a low bun. She had on wire-rimmed glasses covering her blue contacts. To top off the look she wore a black suit, complete with tie.

"Your name is Vanya; you're an amateur model from Russia." Roxy told her in a deep Russian accent, "And I am Olga, your agent." She handed her a passport.

Carmelita raised a brow, "Where do you come up with this shit? _I'm_ a gothic hooker and _you're_ a sniper from the CIA more like it."

"Be nice, _Vanya_, these disguises are fool proof."

"Yeah, one problem though."

Roxy raised her brows, "What's that?"

"I can't change my voice!"

Roxy smiled, "Which is why Vanya is mute," her voice back to normal.

"A mute model?" she asked dryly.

"Guys like a girl who looks good and can't talk."

"I am going to kill you."

"And here I thought you wouldn't adjust to my way a life."

----

Though Carmelita hadn't liked to admit it, Roxy's plan worked. The mute Russian model and her agent had no problems getting on the plane, even if Carmelita _did_ have to deal with tourists staring, snapping pictures and asking for her autograph.

They got to Paris in one piece and the first thing Carmelita did when they had gotten in the apartment was strip out of that dress, tear off the wig and jump in the shower. When she got out, she dried her, curly again, hair and brushed. It was a lot easier to brush now that it was shorter.

She walked out of the bathroom, still in her white towel. Roxy had ripped off her wig and mask, her hair was frizzy and she was sprawled out on her bed. "You can get in shower now."

Roxy jumped at that and Carmelita laughed. She threw on her light green pajamas and went to bed.

----

When Roxy got out of the shower Carmelita was already asleep. Roxy shook her head, she wasn't tired. She tied her pink hair into its ponytail and threw on her normal clothing. She wasn't ready for bed yet; she wanted to have a few drinks maybe dance a bit. She couldn't stay inside.

After all… she'd never been to a bar in Paris.

**There. They're in Paris. Next chapter: The Murray meets The Rox. Anyway I hope you like this chapter. Now, it may be a while until my next update, my internet is being cut off and switched and I'm not sure when I'll get it up again. But I was determined to get this chapter up before tomorrow when it goes down. Please review.**


	7. The D

_**Confliction**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Sly. If someone said I did, they lied. The only ones I own are the ones you don't recognize.

AN: Long wait again. I really am sorry and I know I keep saying it'll change, but things keep popping up. You know how it is.

**The D**

Roxy loved bars. She loved the music, she loved the food, she loved the drinks… hell, she was even fond of the people. It was a trait she had inherited from her father, Ilya Blue. Ilya was a cat of the Russian Blue breed; he had immigrated to America when he met the Brooklyn Persian who was Roxy's mother. While Ilya was tough and badly tempered, her mother was in tune with the world and let things flow. The two made an evened out pair.

Christina, her mother, had died when she was rather young and Ilya had to take over both responsibilities as father and mother. He took the extra role well. Ilya wasn't the ideal citizen, but he knew how to get by and taught Roxy that all she needed to get what she wanted was determination and strength.

When she was young, Christina tried teaching her that life was beautiful and one needed to deal with it with care. It didn't stick. Roxy was her father's daughter through and through. Though, some of the things she learned from Christina proved very useful. She almost wished that she could have learned more, she never used these special talents unless it was absolutely necessary of course, preferring greatly to use her fists.

She looked around. So this was Paris. The feline found herself unimpressed with the fancy restaurants. What she needed was a bar. She stopped in front of a building. Leroy's was the name of it, written in the sign with neon green letters. It was a bar. "Here we go."

----

"He's so miserable."

Bentley and Murray looked up from the table at her. Bentley was typing on his computer. Murray was eating a chilidog. Penelope was looking across at Sly who was currently lying on the brown moth-eaten couch, ripping off pieces of it. The two males followed her gaze.

Bentley sighed. Murray looked down at his chilidog. Both of them knew what Penelope said was true, but neither had the courage to agree out loud. The truth of the matter was… life with the Cooper Gang was slowly changing.

It started with Sly throwing himself into their work. Then, when Carmelita was sent away, he became further tempered. He began to obsess over finding anything he could about the people who would try to harm Carmelita and her family, about Lacienica--the possible surviving Fox other than the Inspector--and, of course, about where Carmelita could be.

Sadly, as time went on and their searches came up with nothing after nothing, Sly became more depressed. It was suddenly easy to anger him--he had actually snapped at Bentley while he was telling his latest plan, saying that if he was so smart he should have found something on Carmelita--and the tension around him grew out so far it filled the entire safe house.

They could all feel it. And not one of them knew what they could do about it. At first they believed he would get over it and turn back into the good old Sly they knew before Carmelita. Only Penelope knew better. And by now… both men were beginning to believe what she insisted from the start.

Sly was in _love_ with Carmelita. It was bad enough when she wouldn't see him, when she would ignore his heists and refuse to come after him. But at least at that point, he could sneak around, find her and at least watch her. After the deaths, he had no clue where she was, or if she was even still alive.

The only thing that would make him happy would be for him to see her again. Penelope supposed it wouldn't matter if she had a shock pistol aimed at his head so long as his heart could soar at seeing her face once more.

Penelope looked at her intelligent turtle. She wasn't confused about Sly's feelings at all. All she had to do was think about herself in Sly's boots--not ever being able to see her sweet Bentley again--and her heart broke for him. She was surprised Sly was able to hold it together.

Penelope looked back up when she heard the creak of the floor boards. Sly had abandoned his place on the couch. "Where are you going?" she heard Murray ask.

"I'm going to the bar. Leroy's is open all night," he answered.

"I'll come with you."

Penelope smiled at the big guy. He was such a good friend. She knew that he didn't drink, but he'd go to the bar with Sly to keep the raccoon out of trouble. Not another word was spoken as the two thieves left the safe house. Penelope sincerely hoped things would work out. She knew better than to think Sly would get over and forget about the Interpol Inspector; after all she knew she would never be able to forget about her Bentley. But she did hope that he would learn to cope and realize that he wasn't alone. And he never would be, he never was.

And she truly wished that she could find Carmelita for him. She sighed, but time was moving on and she was no closer to that goal than she was when the young officer was first transferred.

----

Roxy sat down with her beer in hand. She'd never been one for those fancy drinks, give her an ice cold beer in a bottle and she was happy. She took a swig of the drink and looked around. Paris wasn't that bad.

The entrance opened. Roxy lifted her head to see who it was. Two men, a large pink hippo and a raccoon walked into the bar. She immediately noticed the air of discomfort that followed them. The raccoon had a distant look in his eyes and the hippo seemed worried for his little friend. Her eyes followed the pair as they sat down just a few stools away from her.

She watched them quietly. Something… some sort of alarm went off in the back of her mind. She should know them… or know _of_ them…. What was it?

They were talking. Or rather the hippo was talking to his friend as the raccoon simply drank his own bottle. Roxy strained to hear, but the endless prattle and drunken laughter of the other customers was overpowering the conversation she had been attempting to listen in on.

A hand was placed on her shoulder. She glanced up at the cat. He was tall, gray fur, green eyes, and his breath smelled of sardines and alcohol. She shrugged his hand off. He put it back and she hissed at him, once again removing his hand from her.

"Don' be like tha'…" he slurred. He grabbed her shoulder again and again she twisted out of his grasp.

"Get lost and I won't break your nose," she warned. She looked back at the hippo and his friend. Something was missing. As she looked at the two men, she felt that something was missing. "A turtle…" she whispered.

That was it! That was Sly Cooper and Murray! She kicked herself for not realizing it sooner, but then without Bentley, she was a little thrown off. And this _was_ her first time ever actually _seeing_ them. Everything she knew about the three came from Interpol reports and Carmelita, though Carmelita was usually focused on the leader of the group.

She moved a couple seats closer to hear better, unnoticed by the thieves. Cooper was miserable, that much was certain… was it because of what happened a year or so ago? She wouldn't doubt it. Carmelita still seemed broken up about it… at least when she wasn't thinking about her younger sister.

Still, she couldn't hear a lot. Cooper was mumbling into his drink and that idiot was back on her tail. He took hold of her and pulled her to him. "Dance wi'me."

Her fur stood on end in rage; she pulled back and slammed her clawed fist right into his face. She had warned him and she was not in the mood today. The man knocked into a bigger man; a gorilla.

The ape threw the pesky feline across the room and into a table of drinking dogs. The poor drunken fool, Roxy shook her head in pity. His luck was not to be envied. She looked back at Murray and Cooper, it seemed she had their awareness now…

She grinned, showing off her pearly fangs. Now that she had their attention, maybe some use could come out of it.

--

Murray and Sly blinked at the aggressive cat. She grinned at them at sat next to Murray. "Hey," she spoke in an accent that was clearly American… she was from New York it sounded. "Name's Roxy."

Murray smiled, "I'm Murray!"

Sly glanced at his large friend. Momentarily forgetting his problems with Doberman and Carmelita, he chose to turn his attention to the fierce young lady acquainting them. "I'm Sly," he said.

To both their surprise, Roxy smirked, "Oh, I know who you are."

Murray's brows shot up and Sly's furrowed. "How do you know us?" he asked.

"Everyone knows who you are, especially if you're in the right circles…" she trailed off with a smile staring straight at Murray.

Sly raised a brow. Something was off with this woman. And she wanted something, he knew it. He wasn't so sure he was willing to trust her… he looked from her to Murray. The poor guy looked like he was caught in the headlights of his own van.

"What do you want?" he asked.

Roxy looked back at him and blinked, "Who said I wanted anything?"

Sly stared intensely at her. He wasn't in the mood for games. Especially not whatever type this girl was playing.

--

Impressive… the raccoon wasn't as dumb as he looked, though she had known that how many times he's outwitted her friend. The way he was looking at her, unnerved Roxy for some reason. He wasn't playing with her. His expression said that much.

"Dimitri. You know him, right?"

Cooper blinked, "What do you want with him?"

"I need something from him. He has information that can help me."

He just looked at her,--distrustful and suspicious--saying nothing. Roxy felt her anger rise, why wouldn't he just tell her how to find the man? How hard could it be? She took a deep breath, reminding herself that this was for Carm. Dimitri had information that could help them with the search for Lacienica. If Cooper knew where they could find him, she wasn't about to blow her chance by losing her temper. Something told her threats and a well placed fist would do little to persuade this particular man.

She decided a new tactic. "Please. It's very important, I need to find Dimitri."

----

She walked out of Leroy's with a smile. While hesitantly, Cooper had told her what she needed to know. Dimitri was still in Paris, thankfully. He owned a club around here. It was big, flashy, everything Carmelita said Dimitri liked to be. _The D_ was what they needed to find. It would be easy to find the slimy lizard, but would it be easy to get the information? What if he didn't know anything about the Poison Rogues?

She shook her head. He'd know. He'd know… or she'd break all of his fingers.

A groan of pain interrupted her thoughts. She looked to her right, in the trash bin was that annoying cat. So this was where they threw him… she walked over to see if he was still breathing. He was fine, just passed out. She nodded, let him sleep out here for the night, that would teach him to drink more responsibly… or he'd just do it again the next time he had the chance.

Oh, well. It wasn't her problem.

----

Evil sun… evil light… evil lack of curtains. Carmelita grumbled as she forced herself up out of bed. She had jetlag from Hell, a migraine and she needed coffee. She watched thankfully as the dark liquid fell into glass. The scent of ground coffee beans was soothing. She briefly wondered why the motel would have a coffee machine and no curtains.

After filling herself with caffeine she looked back at the beds. Roxy was happily snoring away; the light didn't seem to bother her at all. She was sprawled on the bed with her head hanging off the side of it. What did she do last night?

She walked over to her friend with a cup of coffee in her hand. She held the mug under the cat's pink nose, the smell of it seemingly pulling her out of dreamland. She groggily took the drink from Carmelita.

"Where'd you go?" she asked.

"Bar."

Carmelita shook her head with a small smile. She couldn't be mad at Roxy for being Roxy. She should have known that would be the first place the woman would go.

Roxy coughed, "You won't believe who-" she stopped.

The fox looked at her in curiosity. "I won't believe who?"

She looked contemplative for a minute before shaking her head. "I know where to find Dimitri."

She blinked, she wasn't sure that was what Roxy was going to say originally, but it was good news nonetheless. She'd let it go, whatever it was. "Where?"

"A dance club or something. It's called The D. He runs it. Chances are we'll find him there."

Carmelita nodded. "All right. Let's get dressed and we can go."

----

The D… it was a large building. The sign was in bright purple letters. Both ex-officers of Interpol walked in. From what Carmelita could see, it was a slow day. But, it was the morning. She doubted any of the good customers came until late at night. Still, she strolled over to the bartender. He was a tough looking monkey, "Is Dimitri here?"

He nodded and pointed up, "He lives upstairs. Why?"

"I need to have a word with him," she said as she went over to a door she assumed led upstairs. She walked up the stairs with Roxy in tow. When they reached the top, she knocked on the door.

No answer.

She knocked louder.

Still no answer.

She jiggled the doorknob.

It was open.

The women entered the apartment. Carmelita grimaced at the sight that greeted them.

**Well that's that. This chapter actually had changed a lot from what I originally had planned. Oh, well. I guess that's how it goes sometimes. Anyway, I hope you liked it. Please review.**


	8. The Cost

_**Confliction**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Sly. If someone said I did, they lied. The only ones I own are the ones you don't recognize.

**The Cost**

The fox could have really done without seeing that for the rest of her life. There slept the lizard on a black leather chair… but that wasn't the unnerving thing. That was the fact that he was in nothing but a pair of white briefs.

Roxy snickered, "I used to give wedgies to guys like him in school!"

"I believe that," spoke Carmelita as she walked over to the drooling iguana. Not much caring for politeness at the moment as him getting dressed, she roughly shook him.

The disoriented lizard fell over and almost out of the chair. He looked up at Carmelita and blinked. "What? What? Oh... what's the big bling?"

"What the hell did you just say?" Roxy asked in annoyed confusion. She picked up an ugly pair of green pants and threw them at him, "Do us a favor and get dressed."

Dimitri muttered but put his pants on. He glared at the two ladies. "What's the big bling? Bringing my house down."

"Johnny was right, this freak can't talk." Roxy told Carmelita.

"I need information. Do you know anything about the Poison Rogues, and a girl named Lacienica?" Carmelita asked him, ignoring her partner.

"Why should I help some wash-out cop lady like you?" he asked.

Roxy hissed, "Because otherwise _I'll_ hafta use you for a scratching post."

Dimitri rolled his eyes. "Pah! You think you got juice? Squeezed, you wouldn't fill up a glass. Now, _me_, I got lots of juice. I'm not helping some washed up copper. And threats of a badly dressed cracker jack don't scare me."

Her eyes widened in anger, "_Badly_ _dressed_? Have you_ looked_ at your-"

"Shut up, Roxy. Dimitri, I really need to know if you know anything… I'm… I'm willing to make a deal," she told him slowly. She was a little nervous on making a deal with him, she was desperate and--at the moment--at the mercy of this incompetent criminal. And she didn't know what he'd want, but she was sure it wasn't legal.

Dimitri put his gangly fingers to his chin as he thought, "I might have something in mind."

Carmelita took a deep breath, "What do you want?"

"The Solus Ruby. Bring it to me, and I'll give you the dish."

The Solus Ruby? That was the largest ruby known of and was currently residing in one of the most well guarded museums in Paris. She'd have to steal it…

"But we'd have to steal it," she looked at Roxy.

"No ruby, no deal," Dimitri spoke, crossing his thin arms.

"You'll have your damn ruby!" Roxy hissed at him before walking out the door with the ex-cop. Carmelita knew this would happen, this was the ultimate test… it was one thing to disobey orders, but another entirely to break a law.

Was she ready for this? Carmelita couldn't help but think that… maybe she wasn't.

----

"Stripes?" Bentley asked when Sly described his experience with the strange feline who had wanted something to do with their old friend Dimitri.

"One on each cheek, going up and they were blue. She must've died her fur," Sly told him. "She had an American accent."

Bentley nodded. He was looking for an American feline with pink hair and blue stripes… white fur and gold-yellow eyes. A few Roxy's popped up in the search.

Roxy Molino. Texas. She was a secretary, white fur, pink hair, green eyes, heavy-set and no stripes. That was a no. The Roxy Sly described was athletic and more than likely _not_ a secretary.

Roxanne Christene. Detroit. She was a boxer… that was more like it; white fur, gold eyes… but a blonde and no stripes. She could have died her hair and the stripes could have been recently died in. Scratch that, she had a match in two days; she wouldn't be in Paris looking for Dimitri.

Roxanne Fine. New Jersey. She was a bouncer for a club, white fur, pink hair, gold eyes. Bentley looked at Sly and Murray who were shaking their heads no. Miss Fine was too buff.

Bentley sighed and continued the search. Roxanne "Roxy" Blue from New York popped up. She was athletically built, long pink hair in a pony tail, white fur, gold eyes and two blue stripes on her face.

"That's her!" Murray told him. Sly nodded his head in agreement.

Bentley turned his attention back to the profile. He couldn't believe his own eyes… "She's an officer of Interpol!"

----

Carmelita took in a deep breath as she looked up at the dark blue sky. Not many stars were out as clouds seemed to cover them. Carmelita was chilled to the bone and she wasn't sure if it was because of the temperature or her own nervousness.

Both ex-cops were dressed in black turtleneck, black gloves, black stretch-pants and black tennis shoes wearing black ski masks over their heads. "Is this necessary?" Roxy asked. "Sly and his gang always wore normal clothes when they stole stuff."

Carmelita glared at her, "I don't care what Cooper did. We're not part of his gang, we do not want to be caught and we do not want to be chased. I've never broken a law in my life and if I have to do it now, I'm going to feel safe when I do!"

Roxy nodded her head, "All right, all right. 'Sides, Sly_ is _a master at this and we're pretty new, right?"

"Why do keep bringing him up?" the vixen asked exasperatedly.

"Because he's better at this than we are. I mean, this is pretty big. Sure I ripped off some drug money, but that's nothing compared to now and _you_, you never did _anything _like this before… maybe we should get a hold-"

"How can you even say that?" she cut her off, obviously hurt.

"Look, I'm just sayin' I'm sure he'd help out. You guys have history and-"

"No. No, he wouldn't help me. I hate him and he hates me. Even if he would, I wouldn't let him. I never want to see him again! Now let's just steal the damn ruby and get it over with!"

"Whatever you say," Roxy said shaking her head.

"We'll be fine. We went over everything more than once…" Carmelita said more to herself than to reassure Roxy. They had already gone into the museum during the day, checked out everything, they made a plan… Roxy was right about one thing though. Sly would get this done with no problem. Especially with that turtle on his side, but Carmelita felt--or rather hoped--that they could do this with minimal trouble.

"I still feel like we entered a bad movie…" Roxy muttered as she pulled at her turtleneck.

"Shut up."

----

Sly blinked. Out of all the things he had thought about that woman, "She's a cop?" That wasn't one of them…

"It states here that she's a hot head, violent and has cost Interpol thousands of dollars in property damage," Penelope said, looking at the computer. "It's a wonder she wasn't fired."

"Does it say why she's here?" Sly asked, curious as to why a New York cop of Interpol would be there in France looking for Dimitri.

The mouse shook her head, "No, it doesn't."

----

"So are you ready?" asked the feline, as her golden gaze turned to her partner.

The vixen gulped silently, "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Then let's do this."

**I'm ending it here. Why? I want to and because I want this chapter up tonight. Also there are just a few more chapters until Carmelita and Sly's inevitable reunion. So keep reading and please review.**


	9. The Deed

_**Confliction**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Sly. If someone said I did, they lied. The only ones I own are the ones you don't recognize.

AN: Sorry for the long absence. Lots of stuff is going on and I was having trouble with the break-in. Apparently I had a more difficult plan instead of sticking to the game, so a big thanks to Bloodlust Mistress for helping me out with that!

**The Deed**

Carmelita stared at the museum. It was large with stone walls and all kinds of security. She swallowed hard. There was no turning back now… not if she wanted to find her baby sister.

_'Lacienica,' _the very thought of the girl gave back the vixen the courage she almost lost. Carmelita took a deep breath. She cleared her mind and ran towards the museum. Clinging close to the wall allowed her to avoid some spot lights, but it was difficult to do. _'How does Sly-'_ she halted her own thoughts, dispersing the raccoon from her mind. No, she wouldn't think about him.

Once the light passed, she went around and found an opening in the back of the building. She let out a sigh of relief. The first step was done. But the worst wasn't over yet. It would only get harder from that point on, she knew, but there was no backing out now… right?

She hesitated for a moment. Finding her resolve, she went inside. She would never forgive herself if she quit. She hid herself as best she could and looked around the museum. There were a few skeleton guards… but even one cut her chances of getting through this unseen.

"Hey."

Carmelita jumped but managed to withhold the urge to yelp.

"Roxy!" she scolded in a hush tone.

"Sorry," she said in a somewhat cocky tone. "So, ya gonna go or not?"

Carmelita gave Roxy a glare that clearly stated, "Just wait until we get back to the hotel," before she looked back down the hallway. She took deep breath and ran for it, avoiding the lasers on the floor and the spotlights from the ceilings. She was doing rather well until she got to the end… where one of the guards heard her. She jumped out of sight and hid in the shadows, almost not making it in time.

_'How does Cooper do this?'_ she wondered briefly. She shook her head again, trying to rid him from her thoughts. _'No! I won't think about him. I hate him and he hates me. Thinking about him will only distract me!'_ She damned Roxy for bringing the thief up in the first place.

Carmelita went into the main exhibit. She looked around. Where would they put a priceless ruby….? Ah! She ran over and jumped up to the second floor and smiled some.

"Predictable..." she muttered to no one.

She blinked at herself. Sure, she did things like this, but that was only to catch criminals. Now… she _was_ a criminal--the realization still has not worn off her shock no matter how many times she thought about it--and her years as an Interpol officer had allowed her the skills to become one. Criminals and law enforcers… maybe Sly… She shook her head.

'_No! I said I wouldn't think about him! Damn it!'_ she cursed in her mind, once again mentally condemning Roxy to Hell for speaking of him to her.

"Hey!" softly shouted a rather irate voice.

Carmelita blinked and looked down. There was Roxy.

"Ya gonna give me a lift or what?"

Carmelita sighed some. She was going to kill the feline when they went back. She looked around and found a computer. From the way it was wired, even she could guess it was linked to the security on the stairs. _Great_… she never was good with computers. She began to press buttons, trying to figure out how to shut down the security. After almost fifteen minutes of fruitless efforts, Carmelita lost her temper, growled, and slammed her foot into the computer. Little bits of electricity sparked out and the lasers blinked three times before disappearing. The fox stared at the machine in disbelief.

"Guess ya don't need to be a computer geek to get the job done," Roxy commented as she made her way up the stairs.

The women looked at each other and then headed down the hall. It didn't take them long to find the safe with the ruby in it. It was supposed to go on display tomorrow. Roxy cracked her knuckles. "Leave this to me," she said with a smirk and she started working on the combination lock.

Carmelita watched as her partner fiddled with the lock until it eventually gave way in Roxy's apparently skilled hands. Carmelita raised a brow as the cat looked at her, grinning, "What can I say? The briefcases usually had locks on 'em."

Carmelita grinned, rolling her eyes. Okay, maybe she _wouldn't_ kill her. Roxy opened the safe door and pulled out a perfectly cut ruby nearly the size of Carmelita's fist. Roxy gave the gem to her and Carmelita stashed it in a black plastic grocery bag, wrapped it up and held it to her chest as the two ran off in the direction they came.

"Freeze!" shouted an officer… wait Carmelita knew him. It was Wes! She inwardly groaned. She should have guessed that computer would set off a silent alarm. This was one of the last things she needed to happen.

She looked at the shock pistol in his hand and swiftly kicked it out of his grasp. Right on cue, Roxy grabbed the gun and pointed it at him. Carmelita laughed, "I don't think so."

Wes' eyes widened, "Carmelita?"

Carmelita brought one of her hands to her head, "Oh, no…"

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked, accusing shock evident in his voice and his face.

"Wes, you know what they did… my sister's alive. I know it, but… I have to save her. I have to do this."

Wes shook his head, "You realize they'll find out about you."

Carmelita nodded her head; she'd no doubt that if it hadn't happened already Chief Byrd would contact Chief Barkley. Then Interpol would know that both she and Roxy were no longer in New York, and then they'd assume—correctly—that they were in Paris. She lowered her head, looking at the concealed gem, "I know."

He sighed, "Look… just go."

Her head snapped up, "What?"

"Just go. I won't tell them about you… I'll handle everything here."

She smiled underneath her mask; he was risking a lot by helping her, "Thank you."

"It's the most I can do for you. I can't keep them from finding out, you know that. And after they do, I can't help you anymore. I wish I could but-"

"I know. And it's enough."

--

Wes watched as Carmelita and that other one—who he assumed was a she—ran off without delay. He thought about Carmelita as he made his way to the security room and took out the security tape that held the evidence of him talking to two criminals. While he was expecting her return, what she'd done had come as a complete shock to him.

He knew her; he felt that he knew her better than most people. But this… this wasn't in her character and—though he sort of understood why she was doing it—he wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to handle this. He knew he would help her, he had to. She was his friend and… his boss had plans for her.

He crushed the tape and threw it in the garbage.

----

"You let them get away?" shouted the chief.

"It was Cooper and his gang, I'm sorry, it won't happen again," the detective told him.

Barkley rubbed his temples, "It better not, but we have more important problems right now. Inspector Fox has disobeyed orders, she left her post and we have reason to suspect she and another officer, Roxanne Blue, are here in Paris."

_'What gave you that idea?'_ he thought cynically. "In all due respect, Chief, didn't you think Carmelita would come back for her sister?"

"It doesn't matter; she ignored the direct order to stay there! It was for her own good! If you find her, arrest her and her partner and bring them here!"

**Sorry for the shortness but I have to leave soon and I really wanted to post this before I did. I'll update soon, promise. Hope you like it, please review.**


	10. The Fateful Reunion

_**Confliction**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Sly. If someone said I did, they lied. The only ones I own are the ones you don't recognize.

AN: Thanks, Bloodlust Mistress for always helping me with Dimitri.

**The Fateful Reunion**

Wes blinked, "Chief, I can't arrest them for disobeying orders," Not that he didn't have other grounds to arrest them on… he shook his head. He was hoping that this wouldn't be what Barkley wanted to talk to him about when he called him to his office.

"Then arrest them for interfering with the Fox Murder Case," he told him.

"But she hasn't done anything to interfere," Wes defended.

"_Yet_," he spoke. "We both know what she's planning to do."

"What's so wrong about wanting to save her sister?"

"The fact that she could screw up everything, Doberman! Inspector Fox is emotionally attached and that could and _will_ cause her to do something rash without thinking of the consequences!"

_'Got that one right…'_ he thought sardonically. "Sir, we can't arrest her unless she _does_ something to-"

"Damn it, Doberman! Whoever is gunning the Fox's is after Carmelita too! This is for her own safety."

Wes sighed, there was no arguing. "Yes, Sir." What was he going to do now? He just hoped that Carmelita knew what she was doing.

----

Carmelita had no clue as to what she was doing. She ran the brush through her hair before picking up the black purse. "Ready, Roxy?"

Roxy handed her the ruby, "Let's go."

The fox nodded her head as she took the gem and put it in the purse. She'd be happy when that thing was finally out of her possession. Roxy walked out of the hotel room, Carmelita followed her out, locking the door behind.

It didn't take them long to find themselves at Dimitri's club. They went inside; Dimitri was speaking to the bartender. He looked at the women and grinned, "Well, well, well… look what cat dragged in. Didn't think lady coppers would go through with our little deal. 'Specially not you," he looked pointedly at Carmelita.

She gritted her teeth at him. "Let's just get this over with," she spat. She looked around, grimly. Thugs were everywhere and the air was thick with smoke. She wanted out of there.

Dimitri chuckled. He took a puff of his cigarette and held out his lanky hand, waiting for his price. Carmelita removed the purse from her shoulder and handed it to the lizard. He opened it and examined the ruby without removing it from its silky protection. "Alright, follow Dimitri," he said, going up the stairs to his apartment.

Roxy and Carmelita followed him without hesitation. He held the door open for them, and then locked it behind. It was still a wreck, he sat behind his desk. Papers were everywhere and there were empty bottles on the floor. He filed through the papers hastily, knocking quite a few on the floor.

"Aha!" he said as he pulled out two passes. He transferred the gem into his desk and put the tickets in the purse, handing it back to Carmelita. "I do not know anything about little fox, but no worries. On the back of those tickets is an address, you go to there and give the guards those tickets."

Carmelita pulled out one of the two tickets. She stared at the address, "I recognize this. This is the address of Lady Desiree's Parisian mansion."

Dimitri nodded, "You ask for her, tell her Dimitri sent you."

"Who's Desiree? And how's she supposed to help?" Roxy asked impatiently.

"Lady Desiree is suspected to be one of the Poison Rogues," Carmelita told her.

"She's one of those rogues, no dilly. She'll know what's what with the little fox."

----

Just great… what was he supposed to do? He wouldn't arrest Carmelita… he couldn't. He was impressed by her loyalty to her sister and he had other orders to follow as well. Part of him wanted to obey the chief and arrest the Inspector. He wanted to keep her far out of harm's way. But the other part knew that he had no choice in the matter.

He had to keep Interpol from interfering with the plan. He wasn't stupid; he knew what the plan was. He had orders from the leader of the Poison Rogues to keep them off Carmelita's trail… his leader wanted the fox dead. He could only hope that she could take care of herself. Carmelita was strong and able… she'd be fine. She wouldn't die as easily as the others. She was stronger than that. Wasn't she?

Wes sighed. Everything was going wrong. Why couldn't she have stayed in America? He shook his head as he walked down the streets. It wasn't his problem. His only order was to keep Interpol away from her. It was up to the Poison Rogues to kill her…

He thought of the vixen… her emotional eyes, her long, flowing hair, her overall beauty which was complemented by her outgoing personality and her lust for everything righteous. Could he really just sit back and let them kill her? He rubbed his temple… could he?

----

_Cooper Gang Steals Solus Ruby!_

Penelope's eyes widened as she read the headline. "Bentley, guys, come over here and look at this. Notorious Cooper Gang strikes again, this time stealing the famous Solus Ruby. The priceless gem was stolen from the Louvre Museum, Detective Wes Doberman reported that Cooper had gotten away, snatching the tape that held his evidence, shortly before he arrived…" she read.

Sly furrowed his brows, "We never stole that ruby, what is Doberman playing?"

Bentley shook his head, it wasn't often they were accused of a crime they hadn't committed, but it _had_ been known to happen. After all, stealing something that valuable did sound like something they'd do. However, the turtle was curious as to why the detective had accused them. Doberman had been chasing them for little over a year now… he should have known that it wasn't them—if not by the sheer sloppiness of the heist, as the article also commented on—by the lack of Sly's signature calling card, which he knew there wasn't because there was no mention of it like there usually is.

"Sly, I honestly don't know what the detective is up to, but we have other situations at hand," he told the raccoon.

Sly nodded. They had to find out why that New Yorker cop was after Dimitri. Sly felt guilty for telling her where to find his former fellow gang member. "Right."

----

Dimitri chuckled as he held the ruby in his hand. He really was surprised when he saw Carmelita Fox that first day… and even more so when she arrived again with his stolen jewel. He didn't think she had it in her to do something illegal. There was a knock on the door. He swiftly placed the gem under his mattress. "Who is it??" he snapped, annoyed at the interruption.

"Just open up," said an unmistakable voice.

Dimitri opened the door and grinned, "The Cooper Gang! What brings you to Dimitri's domain?"

"Actually we came to inform you that an Interpol officer is after you and she knows where to find you," Bentley told him.

"Oh, you mean the badly dressed lady cop. Kitty made her appearance," he said smoothly. It seemed that they only knew of the cat. He wondered if they even knew that the Inspector's re-entrance to Paris.

"What did she want?" Penelope asked, "You haven't done anything illegal lately."

"Aw, worried about me, sweet buns?"

"When will you get over yourself?" she asked. He briefly mulled over the last time the mouse told him to get over himself.

"What did she want?" Sly repeated Penelope's question with suspicion.

Dimitri turned towards him. He eyed the thief. "She had a favor she needed. So I, being so gracious, made with the dealings. Why?"

Sly didn't answer him, but continued to look him in the eye. The lizard could tell he was very serious about this. He didn't know why, but Sly seemed really suspicious about the feline cop. He wanted to know why, "How'd you know 'bout the copper's little visit?"

"I met her. She said she was looking for you."

Dimitri nodded, that cleared things some. Not that he could see any reason for him not to be suspicious of her, even if Sly wasn't even sure why he was himself. A smirk played across his face. He walked over to his desk and pulled out one more invitation and handed it to Sly.

"What's this?" he asked.

"You and I are alike. We're both main men who know what they want and take it! I gave the cop lady tickets to the same place. I'm thinking you find her, you find… _most _answers."

----

Carmelita growled as she fussed over her wig, pushing her curls underneath. Roxy laughed as she handed the green colored contacts, "Looking forward to the party, Vanya?" she asked in her 'Olga' voice, already in her Olga disguise, except her blonde wig was let down and curled and instead of the suit she wore a long black dress with a single long sleeve.

"Oh, yeah. I'm looking forward to a night of silence," she answered, sarcasm laced in her voice.

"At least we'll find out what you need to know."

"Stop talking like that," she sighed. "And that's only if Desiree cooperates." She put the second contact in and smoothed her wig and her dress as she looked in the mirror. She was Vanya again, "All right, let's go."

----

Sly wondered about Dimitri as he straightened his tie. The man was always strange, but this time… something was off. He seemed to know something he didn't and Sly knew he was up to something. He looked at the invitation. It was Lady Desiree's party.

He closed his eyes as he remembered the night Carmelita cut all contact with him and broke his heart. He sighed. Should he go? Was finding Roxy really worth the memories? He didn't even know why he felt so compelled to find her. But he knew he had to. Something inside him demanded he find her. And it was that something that demanded him to go to that party.

----

Sly was bored out of his mind. The so-called party was filled with rich stiffs and slutty snobs. Desiree hadn't even made her appearance and Sly couldn't find Roxy for the life of him, one would assume it'd be easy to find a Brooklyn, pink-haired cat with blue stripes on her face.

Despite the money he was making by a little pick-pocketing, the night seemed to be turning into a waste of time.

He sighed and scanned the room again. No Desiree. No Roxy… but his eye did catch a pretty young woman… a fox with auburn fur and short black hair. As he walked closer he noticed her eyes were a bright green. Next to her was a blonde feline, both seemed about as thrilled as he was with this party. "Care to dance?" he asked the vixen in his most charming voice. She looked at him and then her companion.

Her friend smiled and in a Russian accent she said, "Go dance, it'll be fun."

In spite of her friend's encouragement, the vixen bit her lip and hesitated before placing her hand in his. "Do you know our hostess well?" he asked, attempting to start a conversation with the mysterious woman.

She shook her head but gave no verbal answer.

"Are you enjoying yourself?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Are you going to talk to me?"

She touched her throat.

He nodded in understanding, "You can't, can you?"

She shook her head again and nothing more was spoken between them. They then focused all their attention to the next dance; the tango. They danced gracefully and passionately. A passion Sly was shocked he felt with this stranger.

The dance ended with a dip. He stared into her eyes. The only one who had ever inspired such passion in him like this was…

--

Sly! Her eyes widened as she realized who the man was holding her. She forcefully pulled herself from his grasp and ran, paying no mind to the many staring eyes around her.

How could she not have known before? She realized who he was when the dance ended… when she was reminded of a similar night at another party held by a criminal named Rajan.

She ran by Roxy and grabbed her arm. She dragged her outside before shouting, "He's Sly!"

Roxy blinked, "What?"

"That man is Sly Cooper! He tricked me again, I can't believe this!" she ranted, anger and frustration filling her body. She had never wanted to see him again and there he was interfering with her work yet again.

"Carmelita??"

She spun around to see a pair of brown eyes staring at her, his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth agape in shock.

**Hope you enjoyed it. Sorry so long, but you know how college is. And if you don't, I'm sure you have an idea. Please review.**


	11. A Shade of Gray

_**Confliction**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Sly. If someone said I did, they lied. The only ones I own are the ones you don't recognize.

AN: There are way too many reasons for the lateness of this chapter to write down. Just know that they're good ones and I'll do my best not to let it happen again.

**A Shade of Gray**

Carmelita was a screaming mess inside while on the outside all she could do was blink her wide eyes at the man before her. This wasn't the first time her mouth had gotten her in trouble, but now Sly knew she was back. She didn't even want to know where he was; of course the last thing she wanted was for him to know where _she _was!

She looked at Roxy. She had her lips pursed and she was looking upward at the sky, letting the vixen know she was on her own at this point. _'Thanks a lot,'_ she thought bitterly.

"Is it really you?" asked the raccoon, disbelief in his voice.

Carmelita looked back at him with cold eyes, "If I say no will you leave me alone?"

Sly grimaced slightly, "It's you…" suddenly his pained eyes hardened in anger, "Where have you been? I thought you might be dead!"

"You didn't _need_ to know where I was! You still don't!" she yelled. How dare he act like he had some sort of right to know everything? She didn't need to check in with him whenever something happened; she hadn't even spoken to him in over a year!

He looked in Roxy's direction, "I guess that means you're Roxanne Blue, huh?"

Carmelita's eyes widened as she looked at Roxy, who grinned apologetically. "I met him at a bar."

"He's how you found Dimitri…"

Roxy nodded. Carmelita couldn't believe it, that's how she found him! That's why she kept bringing up the Cooper Gang.

"Ya know, I don't think this is the time or place for this," she said.

Despite the fact that Carmelita was close to tearing off the cat's head, she had to agree. "We're not finished," she warned her. She looked back at Sly, "We have things to do and I'd appreciate it if you don't get in my way."

--

She was there. She was there standing in front of him. Emotions ran rampage through the raccoon's mind. Anger, love, confusion, anger, relief, love… he didn't get much of a chance to reply to what she said as she and her friend left without another word.

Sly wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. Should he follow or leave her alone as she asked?

He shook his head. The last time he'd done as she wanted, he didn't get to see her in more than a year… he couldn't take that chance again…he couldn't deal with that again… he'd lose his mind. He finally found her and he wasn't about to let her go again. She didn't want him anywhere near her… but he'd gotten around things like that before.

_'What she doesn't know won't hurt her.'_

As he had done throughout the years, he stealthily followed the woman he loved since he continued his family's legacy.

--

Her head was spinning as she walked hurriedly back to the party. Her stomach was queasy and she felt ready to fall to the ground, but she kept going. Carmelita was now determined more than ever to find Lady Desiree and get the hell out of there.

She looked back at her partner, briefly, to see that the feline was keeping up just fine. Still irritable about the whole ordeal, the vixen snapped her head forward and green eyes darted around from guest to guest until she caught sight of her.

Lady Desiree stood, speaking to a group of young men, a cigarette held in one light purple hand and a large black hat sat atop her long, wavy dark violet hair, hair that covered the left side of her face. She was wearing a long, sleeveless, black gown that covered her feet. Diamond rings were worn on her long, slender, fingers and gold bracelets adorned her wrists as a single gold chain hung from her neck. Her dark blue eye pierced through Carmelita as their eyes met.

Carmelita and Roxy moved to stand in front of the lizard and Roxy spoke in her Russian voice, "Lady Desiree, we've come sent by Dimitri."

She lifted the cigarette to her mauve painted lips. She grinned and blew out the smoke, "Come with me."

She waved the men away and took the women into a room. She locked it behind them before she said, "My cousin told me he sent a couple of cops to me." She looked at Carmelita, "You're the one who wants to know about little Lacienica," she stated—almost patronizingly—rather than asked.

Carmelita nodded, "So you do know."

"Yes, I know about her. She's alive-"

"Where is she??" she asked interrupting the wealthy female.

Desiree raised an eyebrow, "Now, now, don't be rude, Miss Fox. I will give you the information that I can; you see I happen to be risking a lot merely speaking with you."

Carmelita glared at the woman, "I will not be patronized by a criminal."

Desiree grinned, "Oh, dear me, Inspector… it seems that you think that you're still playing the good guy in a game of cops and robbers. You call me a criminal and yet you don't understand my reasons, just as another thief you and I both know of. Because we disobey the law means that we're bad people? Is that it?"

"Exactly, now tell me where my sister is and you'll spend another day _out_ of prison," Carmelita warned.

Rather than spilling out the information like the Inspector was hoping, Desiree laughed, "It seems that you contradict yourself, _Inspector_. Otherwise you admit that you and your partner are bad people as well?"

Carmelita looked at Roxy and back at Desiree, her eyebrows furrowed. No… they weren't bad people… well, Roxy was somewhat but not Carmelita… no, she had good reasons.

"You see, you forfeited your role in that little game the moment you stole that gem for Dimitri. You can't threaten me with prison for you are no longer part of Interpol, but a criminal just like myself, Dimitri and one Sly Cooper. You find yourself in a new game Miss Fox, one with rules you still don't know. Interpol has a set sight, doesn't it? As did you. Black and white… good is good and bad is bad, am I right? But, no… it seems that you're trapped in a world of grey, don't you? A world you never believed in. You became one of us to save your sister, that's noble isn't it? So, couldn't a criminal _also_ have a good heart?"

Carmelita said nothing and Desiree continued, "Well, as I've said. You have nothing to hold over me and you have no power here. I'm merely doing this as a favor, Miss Fox, and you'd do well to appreciate that. Now to answer your questions, I've said before that the young fox is still alive. But at the moment she belongs to Mistress."

"Who's that?" asked Roxy.

"The Mistress is the leader of the Poison Rogues. She has Lacienica, which is all I can tell you."

"Where can we find her?" Carmelita asked, desperate.

"That, I'm not sure of. She and I don't get along well, I didn't wish to be part of her gang anymore and I've paid the exit fee," she said, pulling the hair that covered the left side of her face. The sight caused bile to rise in Carmelita's throat; there were claw marks that scarred deep from her forehead down. Her flesh marred and her eye wasn't blue like her other, but a milky white with red blotches. "I know little since I've gotten out, things were too bloody there and Mistress is cold hearted and cruel, I couldn't take it. All I know is that she owns the little fox now and if you go after her you will die."

----

Carmelita sat on the stool in the dark bar, her head resting on her palm, her elbow on the table. All around her were drunken thugs… was this where she belonged now? She looked at Roxy with her beer in hand she laughed in triumph as she sang horribly off tune to the song on the jukebox with two other plastered men. It was her idea to come here… to celebrate.

Carmelita expected she should be as thrilled as Roxy about the whole thing. She had a clue and her sister was alive… but she was trapped in the world of the Poison Rogues and a prisoner of its leader. However it wasn't that that had the former Inspector so down… it was what Lady Desiree had said to her… and the fox knew she was right.

She really was in a new game now. A game she had done well in by a couple lucky guesses and Roxy's help. But now… now she was ruined forever, she couldn't go back now after she had disgraced her family's name. Or was there really some other area in between good and bad… a gray area… what did it matter anyway? Carmelita's career was officially in the toilet.

"I like your hair," a distinctive voice said behind her.

"Leave me alone," she muttered.

Sly didn't listen. Instead he sat down beside her, smiling at her. "I can help, you know. It can be like old times."

"No, it can't."

"You don't know what you're doing, Carmelita. There aren't any rules anymore. I can help you, I really can… you just have to trust me," he looked at her with his brown eyes.

He could help her. This was his game. She had been lucky so far but without the law behind her this time she couldn't be as effective. There was another time she was a fugitive, that time was because of a lie however, and Sly helped her. Maybe… maybe he could help her again. _'Say yes,'_ a voice inside of her told her.

She looked at him. Could she ally herself with this man again? For Lacienica… yes.

"All right, Ringtail."

**Well there we go, again sorry. New job and I'm back in school with instructors who are _very_ fond of homework. What a pain. Anyway, I hope you like it, things are about to get quite interesting. **


	12. Together Again

_**Confliction**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Sly. If someone said I did, they lied. The only ones I own are the ones you don't recognize.

**Together Again**

Bentley watched with horrified eyes as he continued to watch the scene as it laid out before him. The last thing he'd expected when Sly came through that door into the safe house was the two interpol officers accompanying him.

Or rather the one specific interpol officer who came with him. The one specific interpol officer who had repeatedly attempted to throw his friend in prison. Who made his friend her partner and her lover... and after their last encounter the turtle doubted they would ever cross paths again. Especially after she had been sent to America.

Now here they were. The Cooper Gang with two house guests. Roxy and Carmelita... he doubted this would end well. While uncomfortable with this situation, Penelope eased him some towards it. They'd only be together until this Lacienica was rescued, then they would be their separate ways.

But a lot could happen to a thief's heart in that time. And he didn't want to watch Sly go through that hurt again... and he wasn't sure that the raccoon would shield his heart from her.

--

There were certain things that she couldn't quite sort out. Things that took more of her time and thought to try and comprehend... _this_ was one of those things.

Would the end justify the means? Would her father approve? Was her entire family rolling over in their graves?

Last night had made so much sense to her... well, not really, but she had come to a decision! Or so she thought. It was simple wasn't it? Her sister was in danger and now she had to save her. That meant working side by side with Cooper again. She could do it. That was what she'd already agreed to at least.

Why, oh, _why _was she having this discussion with herself again? Over and over, she'd come up with the same decision. So _why_ did she continue to mentally ask herself if it was right?? If _she_ was right??

Oh, how she wished she could just deal with it. Make her choice without constantly second guessing herself... but she knew that that required more confidence in what she was doing. And while she believed in her cause... she was still a Fox. They were officers of the law! Did the means really justify it?

Being a criminal... well, it was _still_ a big adjustment to make. One that surely wasn't going to come easily.

Carmelita looked at Sly, he seemed as thrilled as she. Both of them, together again. As partners once more... it seemed unfathomable. How could fate throw them back into the same circle?

Shaking her head she stood and walked towards a window, ignoring everything but her own thoughts. This was her life now. Not one she'd willingly pick but she couldn't see any other way. She was tainted, branded... no turning back now. She chose this for her sister.

Hopefully her parents and brother could understand that from wherever they are now.

----

"Tell me where she is," this man was not in the mood right now.

Desiree looked at him with an amused grin, "My, it seems so many need Lady Desiree's help lately, don't they?"

He glared and grabbed her shirt roughly, "I'm not playing games. Tell me where Carmelita Fox went! I have no problem hurting a criminal."

"Again with the crime," she laughed. "You realize she, too, is now what I am, don't you? Do you really want to find her? She does not want anyone to know about her reappearance."

"I don't care. You will tell me or I'll take you in for obstructing justice."

"Ah, so now she is a threat to justice."

"What did I say about games?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Apparently knowing when to stop, she ran her long fingers through her hair and smiled deviously, "You will not like what I tell you."

"Just spill."

"She is with an old comrade to find the little Fox in the Poison Rogues world. In Mistress' world."

"Who?"

"One who is the greatest thief I, or my cousin, have ever met. One she was once desperate to throw in prison, one whom she made her partner... one who broke her heart."

"Sly Cooper."

She smiled softly at him, a looker if not her type, "You know all I know, now," she said as she turned and left up the stairs. Only stopping, without looking at him again, "You know where the door is."

--

And that he did. Walking through the doors of the now empty mansion into the dark, damp street. He strolled down the streets, moving into the ally.

He preferred this form of travel, no one really noticed you in an ally, especially at night. Anyone in a dark ally was either a criminal hiding from the law, thugs waiting for their next victim... or the victim who was simply too foolish, trying to take a shortcut rather than sticking to the safe streets.

Then, of course, was the cop. And cops hardly needed a reason for being in an ally.

The thugs knew from his demeanor that he was hardly a victim, so they didn't even try. Of course not, for then he was either another thug or a criminal. They wouldn't think cop… his attitude, his clothes… yes, even thugs and criminals judged based on looks.

Perhaps that was how so many got caught? Or at least the particular ignorance was a contribution.

It didn't matter. As he made his way through the dreary ally, he thought to himself. Lately that was all he did.

He thought about how his life was before the attacks upon the Fox family. Before the mystery of the disappearance of Lacienica Fox. Before he, personally, had sent the order to send Carmelita as far away as possible.

And he thought of now… and how everything was ruined. His plans to capture the Poison Rogues, to save the youngest Fox and avenge all the Foxes who have died thus far… and his revenge for his own attempted assassination.

All because he now had to worry about the safety of his hard headed little sister!

Orlando swore under his breath. Not only was she back in harms way, but she found herself back in the arms of the infamous Cooper! He seethed. He hardly liked that raccoon back when he was _supposedly_ good.

Now as a criminal… how could she be with him again? Silly question, he knew. He knew Carm. He knew how she thought, how she wanted to make everything just. And he supposed that she could find no other way than to go back to Sly. She would do anything to avenge their family and save her little sister, whom she believed to be the last living Fox other than herself.

Though he knew where to go to retrieve Lacienica, he now had a slightly different mission. Find Sly Cooper and his sister. Then the two Foxes would go and face Mistress together, the way they should have in the first place.

It was foolish of him to think sending her away would keep her away. He should have known that she would fight back. Just as he would if the tables were turned. He would find her again. And they would capture Mistress and save their sister. As family.

And then, together, they would save Carmelita's reputation. Surely Interpol would understand her misjudgment. Her grief that led her to this disgrace.

Soon he came up to his own apartment. Whoever tried to kill him obviously believed him to be dead… after all, he had no other murderous attempts on his head.

It wasn't hard fooling the public into believing his death. After that explosion… it was a miracle he hadn't died. But the moment he woke in that hospital it was clear he had some higher being looking out for him. God, maybe.

He hadn't made it out unscathed—naturally… many burns adorned him beneath his clothing. Large patches of fur missing… but he was alive. And he was grateful for that.

It wasn't easy for him to allow his sister to believe he was dead… but at the time he believed it to be the only way.

He knew better now. She proved him wrong. Now he would save her from Sly as they would save Lacienica from Mistress.

**That's it for now as I finish this chapter. I kick myself in the head as this should have been posted quite a while ago. But no use crying over spilled milk… or unwritten chapters as the case may be. In any case here it is, my block is gone and I look forward to finishing this story soon. Please review. **


	13. Chapter 13

Confliction

_**Confliction**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Sly. If someone said I did, they lied. The only ones I own are the ones you don't recognize.

AN: Yes, I know. Forgive me but I had lost my inspiration for this story almost completely. I feel bad about it but nothing could be done. Now, however, I am getting back into Sly Cooper with some help from a dear friend of mine—Bloodlust Mistress, who also helped me a lot with this chapter. And thus, my interest is back with Confliction. I am determined to finish this story and refuse to abandon it. And I thank everyone who stuck with Confliction even so. In any case, here is the next chapter. Enjoy.

**Chapter 13**

Wes fumbled through his papers. The chief expected him to find the inspector and bring her in. His boss expected him to keep Interpol away from the inspector. Things were going wrong.

Things were going _very_ wrong. And the detective hadn't a clue as to what he could do about it. Everything was heating up; Barkley and Mistress were extremely irritable with the fact that he could not find Carmelita Fox. It was as though she'd disappeared after that night.

And his boss… she wasn't very happy either.

He sighed and lied his head down. Where was she? Where could she have gone? And why was he looking for her? He knew that both the chief and his boss wanted her, both for different reasons.

But Wes didn't want to catch her and he wouldn't arrest her. He cared too much for her; he loved her too much… he stared into nothing, not shocked but surprised. He'd never admitted his love for the Fox before, and though it was a silent confession, it was a confession nonetheless. He'd hated that raccoon for that reason. He couldn't go through with his job because of this, he hadn't meant to fall in love with the beautiful inspector when he started here; knowing then what his job was, but he had.

And while he wouldn't turn her into either side, he _did_ need to find her, if only to watch her and keep her safe from both Interpol and the Poison Rogues.

The phone rang.

He looked at it.

It rang again.

He sighed.

For the third time the ring pierced through the otherwise silent air. It was then he picked up the phone. "Doberman speaking,"

* * *

Sly was sitting in their safe house in Paris. Murray was munching on some chips while Bentley was working on some new gadgets with Penelope by his side. Tension was filling the air and it was getting to Sly, choking him really. He stood and stretched and decided to go out and see if there was something worth swiping.

He jumped up on top of the safe house and looked around. Maybe he should pick-pocket a few people first before stealing something to eat. Really all this was, was a diversion for his mind, to keep his thoughts off the vixen currently residing within the safe house. He sighed and took off, jumping from one roof to the next.

* * *

Carmelita looked at Roxy. This was ridiculous! She had to go find her sister, damn it. And nothing came from sitting around doing nothing like this. So much for the infamous Cooper Gang; at least two weeks have passed and nothing had been shown for it.

The hippo was busy stuffing his face, the turtle was working on something she didn't know—actually she was more convinced that he was busy flirting with his mouse girlfriend rather than working. And Sly…

She looked up, Sly was gone. She left the safe house as well to look for him. Where was he now? _'Looking for something or just getting into trouble,'_ she wondered. She hated this. She hated him. Rage filling her body once again, still she had no other choice. Memories filled her head as she looked for Sly, things were much simpler back then when Sly stole things and she'd track him down.

At least one thing remained. She managed to find him…

He looked back at her. Memories had been swirling around in his mind for quite a while. Back when they were on opposing teams... their flirtatious rendezvous while he was on a job. Why couldn't she ever see—that despite being a thief—he helped her countless times, and actually stopped most of the criminals for her? True, he did steal things, but he never _really_ hurt anyone.

He stopped people like that. He _had_ honor… he even gave all that up for her... because he loved her. Sure he pretended to lose his memory and that obviously wasn't the way to handle it... but still, he did it for her. He did it to make her happy. But it was all or nothing with this fox. She never could see the gray… just black and white... and it cut through him like a burning blade.

"Cooper!" she shouted, snapping him out of his thoughts. She would never use his first name again, she knew this. It hurt too much to call him Sly, even if they _were_ working together now. "What are you doing?" she asked him. Afraid to hear the answer, was he stealing? Of course he was. But now, could she really fault him for that? As she, now, was no better? Yes, she did what she had to for Lacienica. That made it better. At least it made it better than what he did.

"Just a little recreational pick-pocketing; have to make sure my skills don't' rust with all this waiting," he answered with a shrug, as though he didn't care.

She frowned, "Staying prepared, is that it?" she rolled her eyes. Her voice raised a pitch in anger, "Could you stop acting like a criminal for two minutes?? You said you would help me find Lacienica and you're out stealing from people who actually work for their money."

Sly crossed his arms, an aggravated sigh slipping. "We have no leads. We're waiting to hear from others underground. We can't do anything right now; we have nothing to go on. Unlike the _police_, we can't just go knocking on doors asking for information. And just to keep you up-to-date, you're a criminal now too, Carmelita."

She blinked and took a step back, staring at him with furrowed brows. Never had he spoken to her like that... save for that night over a year ago. Regaining her composure, she glared. "I'm not like you. I have a reason for what I'm doing, a good one! What do _you_ have, exactly?" she asked him. Perhaps it was neither the place nor the time for this conversation, but he'd lit the fuse. And this was better than the two attempting to avoid saying a word.

Sly narrowed his eyes. "What reason do you have to be a cop?! Or rather, what reason _did_ you have?" he asked coldly, why did this woman bring out so much anger in him lately?

"People in my family have been officers of the law for generations! It was an honor to follow in my father's steps!" she gritted her teeth, "You _know_ that. I told you before."

"Remember that answer now. Because mine's the same," he snarled slightly. "We might have been born on opposite sides of the fence, but we're more a like that you let yourself to believe."

She took a step closer to him, "It is _one_ thing to follow tradition to make lives better, another completely to make lives more difficult. I will not let you try and fool me again, Ringtail."

"And who says what I do is all bad? Yes, I steal—and ethically—I guess it's wrong. But remember, the entire Cooper line has stolen_ only_ from criminals. We don't steal from innocent people."

She laughed sardonically, "Like I should believe anything that comes out of your lying mouth."

"Then don't believe me. Look it up. In every file, dating back centuries, the Cooper Line has stolen only from master criminals. Think about it, Carmelita. You just have to look back on our past. Way back when, not long after I first surfaced, who did I steal from? A pompous ass who was sinking ships to add to his wealth, because he was bored. A thug who ran everyone out of Mesa City. A vengeful gypsy who raised the dead to do her will. A pyro-raged panda who sunk villages in snow because they didn't pay him protection money, a mechanical owl who was going to kill us all! That was just our _first_ major adventure together!"

"I remember then, Cooper," she quieted down. "That was the first time you decided to play with the inspector. Don't think I forgot," how could she forget how he toyed with her emotions. To kiss her and abandon her handcuffed to a rail right after she gave him a chance to get away.

"I felt bad about leaving you there. I really did... but if I didn't you would have taken me in, and I couldn't let that happen..." he answered her honestly.

"I'm through with this conversation, Ringtail. You do what you want. I'm going to go do something that is actually _helpful_ to my cause," She turned away. Somehow... she had to do something.

Sly shook his head. "Yeah, right... You can't even slip through a security system. How are you going to find anything helpful..." he muttered.

She stopped and her eyes widened, brows furrowing, "What is that supposed to mean??"

Sly kept his eyes on her, even with her back to him. "You're too trained as a cop. But you're not one anymore. You're not going to last five minutes on an actual job."

"I managed to do just fine." she said in her defense, turning sharply back towards him. She thought back to the theft of the Solus Ruby… despite the fact that she only managed due to a huge amount of dumb luck, she felt very protective over her heist. It wasn't something she was proud of, but it was her first major step to overcome the world in order to save her sister.

Sly's eyes widened in realization and he laughed. "So, you really _were_ the one who stole the Solus Ruby," he hadn't thought she had it in her to do such a thing. The laughter lightened his mood, if only a little.

She glared, "I had no choice. And I got away with it... at least I went through with it... Dimitri wouldn't give me the information otherwise. It isn't funny!"

"Carmelita, you made mistakes even a _child_ thief wouldn't make. And the only reason you got away with it, is because Doberman was the one to catch you. If it had been anyone else, you'd be sitting in prison right now."

"How did you know Wes was the one?"

"He told the paper and Interpol that my gang did the job, despite that he knows my signature almost as well as you do."

"Fine." she spat. "_Forgive me_ if I'm not as good as you at breaking the law."

"Still, just proves my point. You're a criminal now," he paused, "and you suck at it," he told her, this banter felt like old times. Much less hostile than the argument they just had.

"So this is what it comes to, you attacking my abilities? Tell me, what _is_ the point, exactly?"

"If you want to save your sister... you have to learn how to be a thief. Otherwise, you'll kill the operation before it even starts," he answered, much more serious now.

"Then what do you suggest?"

"Let Bentley and Penelope worry about finding leads right now. You, me, your buddy and Murray are going to find somewhere for you to practice."

"Practice?"

Sly nodded. "Come on. We'll go back and Murray can drive us out to this place I know."

She followed him back to the safe house where Sly called out for Murray and she grabbed Roxy. Murray was happy to drive them, using the team van, with Roxy in the passenger seat. Sly sat in back with Carmelita, going over what she'd have to learn how to do. She was agile, and could probably learn a few things he knew; but not a lot. She could probably learn to walk on ropes and climb poles and ropes, but that was about it. But she wouldn't have to worry too much, not with how high she could jump.

"First things first; that shock-gun you have… it's too bulky to hang on to. You'll have to get a new weapon."

She nodded, she could agree with that. Besides, the shock-pistol was only issued to Interpol officers. She'd be noticed immediately with it, she was sure. "What exactly is this place, we're going?" she asked.

"I guess you can call it a training arena. It's was an old mafia safe house, but we cleaned them out, and the local cops took them into custody. We keep the security up so we can practice," he smirked and laughed a little, "Bentley likes to call it the Hazard Room."

"So, you actually_ practice_ thieving?"

"Law enforcement practice their techniques, don't they? It's not something you're just born with. It took me _years_ to get this good."

She frowned again, "Then what do I have to do?"

"We're going to start off with basic skills; evading lasers and spot lights, sneaking around in general," he answered her, feeling like a teacher almost.

She nodded, "Fine."

Sly looked over to the pink hippo driving, "How much farther, Murray?"

"Almost there, buddy."

Soon they came to a stop and Sly jumped out of the back of the van and stretched a bit. He looked up at the large room and smirked a little. "Ready, _Inspector Fox_?"

She rolled her eyes at him, "I'm always ready, Ringtail."

Sly chuckled a little, "All right, then, after I show you how to get in, why don't you try and find me, Roxy and Murray on your own?"

"All right then," she agreed. "Roxy isn't doing this with me?"

"That's not how the Hazard Room goes. Roxy gets her own training. You don't do it together," Murray answered.

Sly showed her how to scale the building and find a back way in, and showed her how to maneuver the air vents and slip down. After that, he disappeared.

"Good luck, Carm," Roxy said before Murray pulled her off.

Carmelita sighed as she scaled the wall in front of her, as a cop, she had no need for this. She didn't much like the idea of having to do this now; hiding in the shadows never was her strong suit. After making it up the wall, she groaned and looked for the other way in. She found an air vent and crawled in. Unfortunately, half way in she started sneezing incessantly from the dust.

Sly could hear her, and he couldn't help but laugh. It echoed in the vents. "You're going to have to do better than that," he taunted, talking into another air vent, his voice echoing through until it reached her.

She pouted before she was overcome with sneezes again. This time, she could hear Sly _and _Roxy and the hippo laughing at her.

Damn it.

**Thanks again to my buddy, Bloodlust Mistress, for helping me a **_**lot**_** with this chapter. And thanks to all my readers who have still stuck with this story. It means a lot. Also I quit naming the chapters, I spend more time on naming the dumb things than actually working on them.**

**Random Quote:**

**"Well, you can't never let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him. Not much fun for little Harpo…" – Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) – **_**Finding Nemo**_


	14. Chapter 14

_**Confliction**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Sly. If someone said I did, they lied. The only ones I own are the ones you don't recognize.

AN: Go ahead and shoot me. I have completely neglected Confliction and I am so very sorry. Instead of boring you with excuses, I just promise I'm still here and still writing.

**Chapter Fourteen**

Stars twinkled in the blackened sky.

They winked at him.

They laughed at him.

And the moon just laid there in its full glory, like a fat mob boss among his many thugs.

They knew where she was.

He didn't.

And so they mocked him.

With a growl he tightened his grip on his pistol, ready to pull the trigger at any moment. Be it at a criminal or an unsuspecting nightowl... Wes wasn't in the mood for anything at this point. He lost a woman who meant more to him than he even knew.

A figure caught his eye. It slinked through the ally, Wes followed it swiftly and held his gun close. Whatever it was, he'd find out close enough.

Splashing through puddles of mud and rain water from the shower they had earlier that day, Wes closed in on the man—he was sure it was a man.

He turned the corner and came face to face with a stone faced fox. Familiar brown eyes glared into his own hazel eyes. "You're dead..." Wes managed to get out amidst his shock. Orlando E. Fox had been blown up by the Poison Rogues... order of his boss. And Wes was supposed to have been the one to make sure it happened. And he did... or he thought he did. He could only imagine what Mistress would do to him if she learned the truth.

"Stop following me, Doberman," the sentence said with so much anger, it made Wes wonder if the fox knew exactly who had helped in his attempted assassination.

"How did you survive?"

Orlando looked at the dog with a frown pulled tightly, fangs only peeking out. "I don't know how, I only know why. And that is to keep my sisters alive."

The fox turned away and jumped onto the nearest roof, clearly not interested in a long chat. Only to stop the dog from following him.

Wes stood still as his body slumped against the building that Orlando had used to escape. He didn't have the initiative to follow him. He suddenly didn't have the strength. An explosion of that size should have ended the life of the oldest Fox sibling and yet he survived.

He should go up there.

He should follow him.

He should finish his job before Mistress found out.

He should save his own hide.

The shoulds ran in circles through Wes' mind. And yet he couldn't; his back slid down the wall until his butt reached the cold, wet cement without care to the broken bottles of Whiskey and Vodka littered throughout the ally. A variety of cigarrette butts lay soaked among the bottles. And still the very filth of the alleyway was met without care as the detective sat, leaning against the wall and staring up at the sky.

The stars continued to twinkle at him in their laughing, mocking way.

* * *

Carmelita groaned. Weeks ran by quicker than she could keep up with and training was difficult, though she'd learned everything she'd done wrong during her theft of the Solus Ruby. Sly had lightened up after a bit during their training sessions and even complemented her on her effort. Carmelita had talent, Sly admitted. Talent, he said, that he always knew she had. Of course at this mentioning, Carmelita once again turned the cold shoulder on him. She was only doing this to save the last bit of family she had. He did this as a way of life. He did this because he loved it.

And he loved it more than he loved her.

Being around Sly during this time opened old wounds and tore new ones. There were days she couldn't look at him and days she could sit comfortably in his presence.

She was no where close to being over Sly. And she'd never get over the lies. Not that she would talk about it, as the raccoon would often attempt her to. He seemed to think that they needed to talk calmly about what happened. As though that would help them.

She knew that she couldn't talk calmly about it. It would only break down what little of a bridge they managed to mend together.

But this time with him made her realize something important. She was furious that he lied to her. She was furious it made her feel used—to some level... she began to believe that he had lied only to be with her. She was beginning to believe that he lied because he did love her and that he had not meant to use her.

It made her think. He may have entered into this life, trying to be good for her sake. So that she would love him as much as he loved her... but it didn't work out that way. She would have forgiven him for his lies had he told her. She wasn't sure what she would do about it, but she would have forgiven him and she wouldn't have left him.

It was _how_ she found out.

He couldn't let it go.

And that was what tore at her heart, gauging through with razor sharp claws.

He loved his legacy more than he would ever love her. _Could_ ever love her. She cursed him for not keeping up with his lies. If only she'd never found out...

She looked in the mirror of her room and frowned. Perhaps the same could be said of her. Perhaps she loved her own legacy more than she could love him. Family boundaries that couldn't be broken. Or even trespassed.

She gave up her way of life—reluctantly, albeit—for Lacienica. She couldn't do that for Sly. She loved him so... but wouldn't a better woman, a woman _really_ in love... wouldn't she have followed the man she loved to wherever he went? Wouldn't she have followed him to the end of the Earth?

Her thoughts continued as she moved away to lay down on her small bed. With a yawn, she closed her eyes and drifted off as her mind continued to fight with its own contradictory self.

* * *

Everyone was asleep. Snoring could be heard from the nasaly Bentley even through the closed door and Roxy wondered how Penelope managed to sleep next to him with those huge ears of hers. She looked over at the only other still awake. Gold eyes watched him curiously.

Murray looked over at her, but said nothing. Sitting awkwardly on the moth-eaten couch as she lounged, quite comfortably and undeniably cat-like in the torn-up chair. She was watching him and he twiddled his thumbs.

"Cat got ya tongue?" she asked, her accent thick and mocking.

Murray opened his mouth lightly, said nothing. He didn't know how to talk to this woman. He looked back down. She wasn't like Penelope, easy to talk to, Penelope was easy to be a buddy with. She wasn't like Carmelita either, not that it was easy to talk to her... Murray stayed out of the fox's way. But Roxy... he couldn't figure out if she was good or if she was like Neyla. The only other cop to ever get in good with the Cooper Gang.

He looked at her hair. Pink. Like him. Only hers was a much darker shade that could border on red. He watched her quietly as she watched him.

"How'd you get your face like that?" he asked finally, at a loss for anything else to say. He immediately felt like a moron for it.

She rose a brow, "My face?" she asked, unsure of whether or not she should be insulted. Or if she should chuckle lightly at the poor dimwitted oaf.

"Y'know, you're," he gestured to towards his own cheeks.

She nodded in understanding, choosing to chuckle, "Dye. I wanted to stand out, didn't wanna be just another face at Interpol."

Murray smiled at her calm demeanor and her laugh. She had a pretty laugh even if he was intimidated by the rest of her. How funny, he knew it was, that a hippopotamus be intimidated by a little cat. He knew that he would win in a fight. He wasn't afraid of the violent feline. He was just... intimidated. It was the only word he could find to sum up what he felt. Not that he was very good at finding words for much.

"I like it," he told her.

"Thanks, me too."

Silence overtook them again, before Roxy grinned a toothy smile and she hopped up. "Are ya tired?"

He blinked and shook his head.

She grabbed one of his large hands with her two small ones and pulled; not that she would get very far if he hadn't chosen to stand up and follow her. "Let's go have some fun."

She'd pulled at him all the way outside before she let him go. His fingers flexed when she departed. She hopped into his van on the passenger side and he opened up his own door and got in. "Where are we goin'?" he asked her. He was partially confused, still completely intimidated, and somewhat excited.

"A bar. I don't care which one, I just wanna dance and drink."

"With me?" he asked, wishing he hadn't. He wasn't smart like Bentley or smooth like Sly. He said stupid things a lot of the time and the only attractive quality he possessed was his strength. And the fact that he was heavyset, dumb, and _pink_ often overruled that quality.

"Who else? Ya got the van and you're the only one still up, buddy, didn't think you'd appreciate me takin' off with the love of your life," she said with a laugh.

She cocked an eyebrow at him, looking through the corner of her eye, when he put the van in drive, his face had fallen. She noticed. Pursing her lips and realizing it was a cold thing to say a little too late. "Sorry,"

"Hm? For what?" he asked her as he focused on the road, trying to find a suitable place of entertainment for her. Trying not to focus on the fact that she only wanted him here for his van.

"I don't mean to sound mean. I just say awful things without thinkin', my mouth overrides my ass, ya know?"

No, he didn't know.

"I was jokin'. Didn't sound like a joke, I guess," God, she was bad at apologies. "Out of all the people at the safehouse, ya seem like the only one fun enough to go out with."

He smiled at that. And she assumed that her blunder had been fixed.

They arrived at the bar and went inside. Roxy breathing in deep the air of her world. "Don't ya just love this atmosphere?" she asked him.

He smiled at her enthusiasm, "I like it, yeah. Want me to buy you a drink?"

She looked at him with wide eyes and a smile, "Look who's all charming," she teased. "I'd love one, thanks."

The two spent hours there until the bartender shouted, "Fifteen minutes to closing!"

They had talked all about Roxy's life with her father and mother, her time at Interpol and how she felt unfulfilled. And they talked about Murray's life at the orphanage and his life with the gang, including a time of peacefulness with the Guru.

"Guru, huh? Should see if he can do anythin' 'bout my anger," she laughed as they began to leave.

"I think you're fine," he told her.

She frowned suddenly and he said, "I'm sorry?" She held her hand to his mouth, her ears had caught that name. She walked back into the bar, two bears without any rush to leave lingered by the bathroom door.

"I heard it, from da inside. Mistress is done holdin' da young Fox as bait. She's gonna gut da brat and mail off 'er innards to Interpol," spoke one bear.

Roxy and Murray left quietly and stayed by the door. When the bears finally came back out, Murray swiftly knocked them both out with an uppercut. He picked up the one Roxy told him to and threw him in the back of his van. They rushed into the van and Murray gunned it.

**"No, there is not a thin line between love and hate. There is, in fact, a Great Wall of China with armed sentries posted every twenty feet between love and hate." – Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) – House M.D.**


	15. Chapter 15

_**Confliction**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Sly. If someone said I did, they lied. The only ones I own are the ones you don't recognize.

AN: Okay, so I suck. And for that I apologize. School, work, lack of inspiration, seriously the list of reasons this did not get update for almost three years is endless and I'm sorry. To be completely honest, this story was on the chopping block for me. I already killed two of the stories I was working on and was contemplating this one's demise as well. However, going through my favorites, I came across a piece of fanart of my characters and my love was renewed. That, along with my having graduated with my bachelor degree, encouraged me to pick the story back up. You can find it in MessedUpEssy's gallery in her Sly Cooper folder. So for that reason, I guess this chapter must be dedicated to MessedUpEssy from DA!

AN2: Half of this chapter has actually been written and ready to go for several months and I intended to have it posted long ago. Sadly things stood in my way, a little less than four months ago I found out that I was pregnant. I'm happy; believe me, the father perhaps even more so. But it hasn't been easy—I have Hyperemesis and so I've been very, very sick these past few months and have already had to go into the hospital due to dehydration. The baby is very strong though, despite it all. Anyway, so I haven't been really inspired or in the mood to write or even get on the computer because of it, but they have me on Zofran now and so far it's been wonderful and I'm hoping that it means I can get back to what I love.

**Chapter Fifteen**

Carmelita didn't know whether to burst into tears or scream for joy when she heard the news. On one hand, she now knew for certain that Lacienica was still alive. On the other hand, though… she knew that the Mistress was done waiting for her. She looked at the unconscious present that Roxy and Murray had brought her.

She had finally drifted into a calm sleep when the two burst into the hideout and Roxy screamed—in the most aggravating pitch to wake up to—for everyone to get up.

Now Carmelita, Sly, Bentley and Penelope sat in the common room with Murray, Roxy, and the sleeping captive and waited for him to wake up. The brown bear drooled as he slumped in the chair he was tied to.

"How hard did you hit this guy, Murray?" Sly asked; glancing for a moment at Carmelita—her hair tossed as it _always_ was when she woke and her knee bouncing at a rapid pace as it _always_ did when she was anxious.

Murray shrugged apologetically, "Pretty hard I guess. Didn't really think about it,"

Roxy rolled her golden eyes and walked in front of the bear and slapped him. Nothing happened. She slapped him with her other hand. Still the bear stayed unconscious. Fury boiled within the feline and she slapped him harder and faster, taking turns with her hands and watching with mild amusement how his head bounced from hand to hand. She smiled in amusement but held her laughter for the sake of her friend.

"I don't think that's getting us anywhere, Roxy," Carmelita told her.

Roxy cocked her head and grinned, walking into the kitchen area and grabbed a grocery bag.

When she returned, she placed the plastic bag over the bear's head. The beige bag ballooned once before flattening around his head as he breathed in, there were a few struggled breaths before his eyes opened in panic and he nearly threw Roxy over him in his—successful—attempt to get the plastic off his face so he could breath. Roxy had let go of the bag, but the cat was mildly shocked at the amount of force he used; she supposed that her surprise was unfounded considering his size and the fact that she _was_ kind of trying to suffocate him.

"I didn't think that'd really work, really," she admitted to the glaring face of Carmelita. She would be hearing about that later on, no doubt.

The ex-Interpol officer walked up to the now awake and angry bear, "I have questions."

"Not really in da mood to answer no questions, who da hell are you people?" he shouted and tried to pull his arms out of the rope that bound them. Since the hippo had tied them, however, his struggling was for naught.

Roxy slapped him with the back of her hand, "You're gonna answer the fox's questions, not ask them." she warned, pointing her finger in his face before Murray pulled her out of Carmelita's way.

Carmelita sighed; this was a downside to being partnered—and being friends—with an impatiently violent individual. "Roxy, that's enough. Look, I know that you know something about Lacienica Fox. You work for the Poison Rogues, don't you? I need to know where Mistress has Lacienica,"

The bear spit to the side of his chair, "You. You're that Interpol cop, ain't ya? The sister. _Carmelita_ _Montoya_ _Fox._ One of Interpol's best, right? Or were, before ya got mixed up with that con raccoon, am I right? You know you're on Mistress' list, yeah?"

"Don't try to intimidate me," she said calmly. Despite her disheveled look, Carmelita exuded professionalism and intimidation.

"Not tryin' to." he told her, relaxing and stretching his massive shoulders as best as he could being restrained. "Yeah I know where Mistress has da little fox. But you show up and she'll gut you too. She's been waitin' to catch ya, it's why she ain't offed your sister yet like she did your brother."

Carmelita turned her head, closing her eyes and taking in a breath as she thought of Orlando. She'd lost so much, she'd given up so much, and she couldn't lose anything else... she just... she couldn't take it if she did...

Sly had noticed her reaction and walked up behind her and gently—carefully—put his hands on her shoulders for comfort. He was relieved and mildly surprised that she didn't push him away from her. She looked back at the bear, her regained determination in her wet eyes. "Just tell me where Lacienica is."

* * *

Sly wasn't exactly thrilled as the bear gave up the location of the Poison Rogues' home base. It felt even stranger as he openly told Carmelita about Mistress' plans, leaving Lacienica alive just so she could be guaranteed a shot at Carmelita. It seemed too easy and he was all too willing. He looked at Roxy; she seemed as pensive as he about the entire thing.

Carmelita, however, had that look in her eye. The same look he'd seen on her years ago, every time she thought she had him cornered—she was confident, determined and more ready than ever to get this mission completed. He couldn't fault her for it, Lacienica was the last of her living family, Sly would be no different had he any family member around that he could save… or if it had been Murray or Bentley… or _her_… in Lacienica's position. Nothing would stop him.

And nothing would stop Carmelita; even if he begged her to think this through.

It had taken no time at all for the former Interpol officer to get ready, her hair tied back and her gun at her hip; she was going to end this now.

"This is a trap, Carm… I just know it." He had told her when they were alone as the others were getting ready for what would likely be a hell of a battle. The bear had been locked up in one of the rooms that Roxy had thrown him in. He looked up at her from where he sat on the worn out sofa. "Mistress probably even knows we're coming for her…"

Carmelita looked at him and sighed before speaking low, "I know it is… but it's the best chance I've got. I have to take it. Even if Lacienica is dead and the bear's a liar, I have to."

Sly nodded as he replied, "Yeah. I know."

"Still…" she began as she sat down beside him. "It's really not your fight, Sly. I… I really appreciate you helping me all this time, you didn't have to. We certainly haven't been on friendly terms when we met up again and I haven't always been the easiest on you since. But you stood by me anyway. And you've done enough. There's no reason to risk your life for something that might already be gone."

Sly frowned and stared at her intently for several moments before grabbing her shoulders, pull her close to him, and kiss her. He gave her the kiss he'd been missing for too long and it was euphoria to have her back in his arms with her lips against his, even if she were stunned still as a board.

He didn't let go and she remained pliable, but not resistant, before she herself gave into the kiss. Only the necessity for air split them apart and she looked at him, flushed and out of breath. Sly felt as though his heart was tearing apart and bursting with overflowing affection at the same time. He loved having her here like this; he hated the circumstances that allowed this to happen. But if this were it, if this were the end—should they get killed or should Carmelita find her sister and leave him again—he was going to let her know exactly how he felt and how those feelings had _never_ changed.

"Carmelita, whatever fight you have _is_ mine. I love you, I always have and you know that. Yes, I tricked you, but it was so I could be with you and I know that deep down you know that too. I'm going to stand by you whether you like it or not and when this is all over, I'm not just lying down to let you go again. I shouldn't have done it the first time."

Tears began to well up in those large eyes again, his heart filled with hope and dread. He wiped away one of the tears that fell, he couldn't keep himself from doing so.

"Sly… I was so angry…"

"I know."

She lunged into his arms and cried. She kissed him again and Sly knew that she still loved him too.

It was too short a moment as she pulled herself together, wiping her eyes and offering a withered smile. There was still a job to do, after all. "When this is over… I'm willing to try again," she told him. She would forgive him. She would be with him.

But first, they were going to get Lacienica. And even though he was still uneasy about the trap they were walking into, he knew that they would defeat Mistress and her Poison Rogues… because there was no way Sly Cooper was going to lose Carmelita again.

**Thanks again for bearing with me and I plan to have the next chapter up in at least two weeks. **


End file.
